Officials of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) of Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islamabad and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Multan and Faisalabad regions continued their pen down strike against imprisonment of an Additional Commissioner Muhammad Saleem by Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO).
Sources told Business Recorder that Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle on Monday (December 24) sentenced Muhammad Saleem, for three months for contempt of court and sent him to Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi from the court premises. In this regard, the FTO has issued a detailed 18 pages judgment dated December 24, 2012 in the contempt proceedings under section 16 of the Establishment of Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000. In protest of the decision of a high ranking tax officer, all the IR staff of Regional Tax Offices in Karachi resorted to symbolic strike by tying black ribbons around their arms. In Punjab, pen-down strike was observed at RTOs of Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Multan and Faisalabad.
During the last three days, complete pen-down strike has been observed both by the officers and staff at LTU Islamabad. When contacted, an official said the RTO Peshawar so far is working normally and there was no sign of strike. Similarly, officers of the RTO Rawalpindi continued their work Friday wearing black bands. The go-slow policy has been witnessed in RTO Rawalpindi. In RTO Islamabad, pen down strike was witnessed where some tax officers were working, but in a very slow manner voicing resentment.