Supreme Court declares Grade-22 promotions in FBR void

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday abrogated a decision of promotions to Grade-22 in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), ARY News reported.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Mr. Justice Saqib Nisar, declared the decision as void, which was taken in August 2016, for promotions officials from Grade 21 to Grade 22.

The bench questioned presence of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and former bureaucrat Khawaja Zaheer during the meeting of the board in which the decision was taken. “Under which rule the finance minister attended the meeting?, the bench questioned. Finance Minister was not entitled to attend the meeting. Such type of decision will be made if strangers will sit in these meetings, the bench remarked.

The bench while hearing the petition of a tax officer Raana Ahmed, remarked that the eligible officers were bypassed to promote favorite people. In the decision no reason given about ignoring the senior officers, the court observed.

The petitioner was made target and not promoted to the next grade, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said. There were reports against the people who were promoted in the decision, Justice Maqbool Baqar observed.

Secretary Establishment assured the bench that no stranger will now attend the board’s meeting.

The bench ordered the FBR authorities to re-convene the board’s meeting for decision on promotions and adjourned hearing of the case for an indefinite period.