Countrywide pen-down strike call: FBR suspends two senior IR officials

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has suspended two senior Inland Revenue officials over a countrywide pen-down strike call against the proposed restructuring of the tax machinery.

In this regard, the FBR has issued two notifications on Monday.

The suspended officials are Commissioner RTO Zone-I Hyderabad Naib Ali Pathan and Additional Commissioner Inland Revenue RTO Sargodha Ali Salah Hayat.

The action follows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s reported displeasure over the strike call, which was subsequently withdrawn by the Inland Revenue Association after a meeting with the FBR’s Member Administration and Member Operations.

The proposed restructuring aims to reduce the tax gap, improve revenue collection and strengthen the FBR’s institutional efficiency.

According to a press release issued by the FBR on Monday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has suspended two officers of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS), one in BS 20 and the other in BS 19, and has repatriated two other IRS officers of BS 20 to FBR Headquarters for further investigation over an unauthorised press statement and a call to stop official work.

This conduct is, prima facie, a violation of Rules 23 and 26 of the Civil Servants (Conduct) Rules, 2026, made under the Civil Servants Act, 1973, and amounts to misconduct under Rule 34. As FBR cannot tolerate such misconduct, the requisite disciplinary proceedings shall be initiated under the Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020, FBR added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026