FBR officers call off strike

LAHORE: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officers called off the ongoing strike with the assurance of FBR Chairman Ali Arshad Hakeem to pursue the case of Assistant Commissioner (AC) Muhammad Saleem in the Supreme Court with full support, said sources. In addition, the notification through which officers were asked to present themselves in the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) office in their cases was also withdrawn.

The strike was called off after a teleconference was made by FBR Chairman on Tuesday in which he addressed all the protesting FBR officers giving them assurance of the complete backing of the FBR in Muhammad Saleem’s case. He also informed them that leading lawyer Asma Jahangir’s services would be hired to contest the case of Saleem.

Hakeem instructed the officers not to present themselves in FTO cases rather to send a legal advisor as operating in other courts.

This would protect them from future action from the FTO officer or contempt imposed by the FTO office, he added. He said that the FBR would withdraw the notification through which they were asked to present themselves in the FTO office to avoid any legal action by the office in future.

The officers who attended the meeting said that Hakeem while showing the board interest in Muhammad Saleem case stated that the arrested AC did not spend even a single night in jail and shifted to a polyclinic on health grounds with the efforts of the board. Now the case is in court and a review petition has already been filed, which will take time in legal proceedings, said chairman FBR. He further added that in future the FBR will completely support and protect its officers as well.

According to the chairman, the strike would not bring any positive results, which is why some other alternative needs to be adopted.

Therefore, the strike should be called off immediately. He also assured to resolve all the grievances of FBR officers related to the FTO office.

Some of the officers who attended the meeting said that even though the chairman had given assurance of withdrawing the notification of presenting the FBR officer in the FTO office, the issue would not resolved until a formal suspension of the notification through another notification takes place.

Hakeem said that despite the strike being called off, no work was performed by the officers on Tuesday as office working hours almost ended by the time the chairman’s teleconference concluded. However, from today all the officers would start working as per normal routine.

 

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