The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday declared the appointment of chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Ali Arshad Hakeem and secretary Revenue Division as illegal and unconstitutional. A single bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, announced the verdict in response to a petition filed by FBR member in Land Revenue Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, a grade-19 officer.
The judgement was earlier reserved by the court. The petitioner Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad had made Ali Arshad Hakeem, Chairman FBR, Federation of Pakistan through Secretary Establishment and FBR through its chairman as respondents. In his petition, he had sought disqualification of Hakeem.
In the 10-page detailed judgement, the IHC judge declared the two notifications of Establishment Division regarding Ali Arshad Hakeem''s appointment as Chairman FBR and Secretary Revenue Division as illegal and unconstitutional. The court observed that the Chairman FBR''s slot is not only important but also it is sensitive and government should advertise the post before any appointment so that an appropriate candidate could be appointed on this important post through a competitive process.
The court also directed Establishment Division to appoint new Chairman FBR and Secretary Revenue Division till June 30, 2013 by adopting a competitive process. In April, the same court had stopped Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Ali Arshad Hakeem from functioning as chairman FBR by suspending his appointment notification issued by the Establishment division dated July 10, 2012.
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