Peshawar High Court (PHC) has summoned Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Chairman Federal Public Service Commission, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) official and Chairman Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) for January 11, 2019 to hear the constitutional petition for removal of Chairman ATIR. Thee officials have been directed to appear before the Additional Registrar on January 11 as a PHC Abbottabad Bench is hearing a constitutional petition regarding case of Chairman ATIR.
Earlier, pre-admission notices have been issued to the office of Prime Minister, Secretary Establishment Division, Secretary for Law and Justice, Chairmen FPSC and NAB, Director General FIA and Chairman ATIR. A senior taxpayer has approached the PHC through Advocate Mudassir Malik, stating that notifications, appointing the Chairman ATIR, to hold the Public office as Judicial Member and thereafter as Chairman (BS-22) are illegal and of no legal effect. The petition has sought that the appointment may be cancelled and declared patently illegal, ab-initio void and Chairman ATIR may be de-seated/removed from the post of Chairman with return of benefits already enjoyed. Petitioner stated before PHC that through present petition, the petitioner being a taxpayer citizen of Pakistan, has the "right to question the working and patently illegal acts of respondents to appoint an ineligible person, as Chairman (BS-22) in ATIR."
The ATIR is commonly known as Final Fact Finding Authority under the fiscal laws of Pakistan (Income Tax Ordinance, Sales Tax Act, Federal Excise Duty etc) wherein hundreds of thousands of billion rupee of national exchequer in shape of taxes and duties are on stake.
Petitioner alleged that state of affairs and strong documentary evidence available on record, speaks that in Pakistan there is no rule of law but only a 'sharing system' exists in which the national exchequer and public at large are the biggest loser.
Petitioner pleaded that the Chairman ATIR is required to be restrained from performing any judicial work and from holding any public office and the notifications for his appointment as judicial member as well as Chairman Tribunal are liable to be cancelled. The petition also prayed that Chairman ATIR may also be restrained from performing any judicial work, in single as well as Division Benches of Tribunal, till the final decision of the subject petition.
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