LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday suspended a suo motu proceeding before the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) allegedly initiated to benefit a famous home-appliance company and sought replies from the federal government.

Income Tax Commissioner Jibran Masood filed a petition against the suo motu powers of the FTO.

Advocate Safdar Shaheen Pirzada argued on behalf of the petitioner that under the Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance 2000, the ombudsman had no jurisdiction whatsoever to exercise suo motu power. He pointed out that under section 9(2) of the ordinance, the tax ombudsman was categorically barred from taking any action on a matter pending before a court of law.

The counsel stated that a matter relating to tax evasion by the home appliance company was pending before the commissioner/petitioner and he being the competent authority decided it as per law. The matter later landed in the Supreme Court where it is still pending adjudication.

However, he said, the FTO illegally exercised suo motu powers and initiated proceedings against him. He asked the court to set aside the illegal suo motu proceedings initiated against him.

After hearing preliminary arguments, Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi issued a stay order against the FTO suo motu proceeding and sought replies from him as well as of the federal government by April 25.

SNGPL: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday suspended a notification of the federal government about dissolution of the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and appointment of a new one.

Mian Misbahur Rehman, member of the previous BoD, filed a petition challenging the power of the government to take the impugned decision.

His counsel argued before the court that the SNGPL was an autonomous institution and the federal government had no jurisdiction to intervene in its affairs. He said the government acted beyond its power and unlawfully dissolved the BoD of the SNGPL and also appointed its new members. The counsel asked the court to set aside the impugned notification for being an unlawful act.

However, the court suspended the notification and sought a reply from the government within a fortnight.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2019