Acting President Muhammadmian Soomro on Wednesday administered the oath of office to former Justice Munir A Sheikh as the new Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) for a four-year term. The ceremony was held at Aiwan-e-Saddar. The office of FTO had fallen vacant with the completion of tenure of Justice Saleem Akhtar on September 18, this year. After taking oath, the FTO had a meeting with the senior members of his secretariat and consultants to get himself abreast with the working of the institution.
Later, he visited Central Board of Revenue where CBR Chairman Abdullah Yusuf gave him a briefing about the working of CBR.
Justice Munir retired from Supreme Court in January this year after sitting on the Benches of Lahore High Court and Supreme Court for almost two decades.
Justice Munir came to limelight as a fearless, honest and upright Judge when he withstood all pressures and acquitted the dismissed Benazir Bhutto in all references of corruption and misuse of power filed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990.
Differences between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah rose to the bitter end when the CJ wanted to elevate Justice Munir to the Supreme Court in 1997. Incidentally, as Judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Munir had heard the cases of the Sharif family's bank loans. Nawaz Sharif as prime minister was reluctant to see Justice Munir in the Supreme Court. However, with the intervention of some 'mutual friends' of Sajjad Ali Shah and the Sharif family the matter was amicably settled and Justice Munir took oath as Judge of Supreme Court.
Justice Munir was on the Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by CJ Sajjad Ali Shah, which heard the contempt of the court case against prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Nov 1997.
The Court was attacked by a crowed sponsored by the ruling party and forcibly terminated the proceedings, which is a very sad chapter of Pakistan's judicial history and respect for the courts and the law.
Justice Munir was a member of the Full Court headed by Justice Irshad Hassan Khan which heard the petition filed by PML(N) against the dismissal of the Nawaz government in 1999. Rest is history.
As a lawyer, munir A Sheikh was known in the legal community as an expert of the civil, banking, corporate and fiscal laws. His appointment as Federal Tax Ombudsman is the best thing that can happen to now well-established FTO institution. Litigants and CBR all will benefit from his legal acumen, decision power and the unique sense of duty and public trust.
Munir A Sheikh as FTO will have the status of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.