ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has dismissed a petition filed by an Inland Revenue officer against the constitution of a high-powered “implementation committee” on the restructuring of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

According to an order of the IHC, the petitioner (IR official) has withdrawn his petition against the FBR restructuring process.

The respondents included the Federation of Pakistan through the secretary Cabinet Division, the secretary Ministry of Finance, the secretary Ministry of Law and the secretary Task Force on Tax and FBR Reforms.

The FBR had issued a notification for the constitution of a high-powered Implementation and Asset Distribution Committee (I&ADC) for restructuring the FBR.

The IHC’s new order revealed that the sole reason why this Court, vide order dated February 07, 2024, issued notice to the respondents and suspended the operation of the notification dated February 02, 2024, was that the said notification was issued pursuant to the decision of the Caretaker Federal Cabinet.

“Now that the general elections have been held and a new elected government is in place, there is no reason for further proceeding in the instant petition”, the IHC’s order said.

The counsel for the petitioner also seeks permission to withdraw the instant petition with the reservation that if a decision is taken which adversely affects the terms and conditions of his service, he would agitate his grievance before the appropriate fora. The request made by the learned counsel for the petitioner is reasonable, the IHC added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024