LAHORE: The economic stability cannot be achieved without certainty in decisions on tax and economic matters by the judicial authorities, observed the Lahore high Court, striking down the appointments of the chairman and the members of the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR).

“It is important to sensitise the framers of future rules for appointments of members and chairman in ATIR that the country is going through its worst economic condition,” Justice Shahid Jamil Khan said in a judgement, allowing a petition of the Lahore Tax Bar Association.

The judge maintained that the only way out of the country’s woes is economic stability and consequential tax collection.

The judge observed that the investment has no nationality, therefore, it migrates, like seasonal birds, to a place where conditions are conducive and certain for the investors survival and growth.

He said the tax tribunals is the last fact-finding independent forum, which must pass prompt and consistent orders, in accordance with the law laid down by superior courts.

The judge said the whole exercise of tax assessment and collection in billions of rupees goes down the drain when a decision is passed by members of the tribunals incompetently or for extraneous consideration.

He noted that a competent lawyer would never leave his practice for appointment as a member of the tribunal on a contract for a few years, in absence of a career in the job and a chance of elevation.

He said to bring certainty in judicial decisions on commercial and taxation matter, the relevant tribunals and courts should be the nurseries for picking up, on merits, the judges for constitutional courts.

Justice Khan observed that the constitutional courts can always gauge the competence of a member or a judge, when decisions are brought before them in appeals, to elevate them for the superior courts, based on competence and integrity.

The judge said unfortunately the posts in the tribunals are being filled on a political basis, considering the allegiance to a political party or a group of lawyers, as eligibility criteria.

Expressing concern over the appointment process, the judge stated that the competitive process, to determine the capacity and capability based on eligibility, the public service commissions are constituted under Article 242 of the Constitution.

However, he regretted that the tendency of bypassing this forum (service commission) would not only deprive the deserving candidates of appointment on merit, but would instill mistrust in the candidates and those who are striving for the future and fortune.

The judge said the candidates would always look for‘sifarish’ and pledge their ability and competence in the hands of those who exploit them for political or extraneous purposes.

“If the lawmakers are sensitised, there is no need for any direction by this court to be followed, for framing the rules,” Justice Khan remarked.

The judge set aside the ATIR (Appointment of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2020 for being not approved by the federal cabinet.

The judge also declared the appointments made under the rules illegal and without lawful authority, however, to save the continuity in system, allowed the incumbents to continue their service, till the appointment of regular incumbents, under the rules, to be framed and promulgated by the federal government, in consonance with the law as laid down in Mustafa Impex Case.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023