Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has initiated probe on a complaint of misuse of authority by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials for recovering funds from bank account of complainant by posing him as a proprietor of an organisation owned by Punjab government.
It is reliably learnt that the FTO has issued notice to the Secretary Revenue Division, FBR, and Chief Commissioner concerned in a complaint filed by a former employee of Punjab government through tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt against FBR chairman, Minister of State for Revenue, Muhammad Irfan Raza, commissioner-IR/director Internal Audit, Abdul Rauf Mayo, deputy commissioner-IR.
Earlier, the complainant has challenged the FBR official's action to recover the tax default amount of government of Punjab from his bank account and denying the relief granted by the FTO by filing representation before the President of Pakistan wherein LHC held that "case of the petitioner is one of maladministration for which the FTO has jurisdiction" and as a result, order passed by the President, has been set aside with the directions to refund the amount within two weeks.
The complainant states "Through present complaint the complainant questions the working of FBR functionaries to play with the precious resources of national exchequer (taxpayers money) under the umbrella of powers available with IRS officials and ultimate wastage of taxpayers money in futile litigation either by passing patently illegal orders or retaining taxpayers money in shape of refunds. Tax authorities are not taking action against real culprits responsible for extreme maladministration of justice, working under their own umbrella.
Above all, respondents are avoiding appropriate departmental/disciplinary action against the real culprits responsible for grave injustice with the complainant whose life time savings were snatched from the bank account of the complainant by wrongly posing him as owner in some department of Punjab government, the complainant said.
LHC ordered that the case of the petitioner as argued is one of maladministration for which the FTO has jurisdiction. The respondents are directed to refund the amount of the petitioner recovered from his bank account within two weeks' time of receipt of certified copy of this order.
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