Honorary appointment of new tax chief challenged in Islamabad court

The appointment of Syed Shabbar Zaidi as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan has been challenged at the Islamabad High Court (IHC), with the petitioner arguing that under the FBR law, the appointment is illegal. Petitioner Ali Mohamed, a grade 19 Inland Revenue officer, has requested that the court set aside the appointment. Mohamed in his petition states that Zaidi was working as partner of private chartered accountant firm when government appointed him as FBR chairman on May 9 on and “honorary basis/pro bono basis”. The petition said that “according to the law laid down by the IHC, under the FBR Act, a person from private sector may be appointed chairman of the FBR in the exceptional and extraordinary circumstances through a duly advertised process”. In reference to the court order, the petition states that previously in 2012, a person from the private sector, Arshad Ali Hakim, was appointed on contact basis for two years in same way by the government, but the court set aside the appointment. The petitioner argues that there is no law under which the FBR chairman can be appoint on an honorary basis. He further states that Zaidi has “neither the requisite experience nor qualification in tax administration”. Meanwhile, the appointment of Umar Khan Lodhi as the managing director of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) was also challenged in the IHC. The appointment has been challenged by USC senior general manager Wajid Ali Khan, who said that he should have been included in the process of appointing the managing director on the basis of seniority.