ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial has halted the process of procurement of over 1,010 vehicles till “optional analysis” has been done with review by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
The FBR chairman informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, here on Thursday that the matter of allegations of life threat to Senator Faisal Vawda by some tax officials must be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The issue of purchase of 1,010 vehicles was taken up by former federal minister and Senator Faisal Vawda before the committee, here on Thursday.
Senate panel questions ‘effectiveness’ of training programmes for FBR officers
The finance committee decided to refer the matter to the FIA for further investigation.
During committee proceedings, the FBR chairman openly presented himself for all kind of accountability as head of the department. He requested the Senate committee that the PPRA Board should review the procurement process. “We will freeze the process till “optional review” has been done. A full investigation report of the FBR would also be presented before the committee. If the committee wanted to conduct investigation from an external agency, we welcome the decision, he added.
The FBR chairman said that large enforcement capacity is needed for the FBR officials. There is also a critical need for the FBR to identify non-filers and implement effective enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance, which is not possible without visiting markets and territories due to cash economy. We have 25 tax offices and one office is covering many districts.
He disclosed that one of the FBR’s committees on procurement of vehicles were headed by FBR Member Inland Revenue Operations Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar, who has been declared as most honest tax officials by the intelligence agencies.
Another head of the committee has also been declared among the most honest officials by the agencies. Among nine most honest tax officials who have been given top honest rating, “A” by intelligence agencies, the officials included former FBR chairman Amjad Zubair Tawana, Saadia Sadaf Gilani and Hamid Ateeq Sarwar.
Earlier, Senator Faisal Vawda accused that some FBR officials threatened his life on the issue of FBR’s vehicles procurement.
The FBR chairman responded that criminal investigation must be done by the FIA in this matter.
The senator further accused that it is unfortunate that the tax officials raided a multinational car manufacturing company to pressurise it. The senator also talked about a list of 54 most corrupt tax officials with illegal wealth including gold etc.
Earlier, in response to these serious allegations, FBR Chairman pledged that a high-level investigation would be conducted. “Strict action will be taken against those involved,” he said, emphasizing that the committee should send the matter to the FIA for further investigation.
He also announced that the procurement process for the vehicles would be halted until a full review of the process is completed. Senator Mandviwala stressed the importance of transparency in the procurement process and called for the PEPRA Board to review the vehicle purchases in line with procurement rules. “Procurement cannot be done without PEPRA rules,” he stated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments