LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld a decision of the Federal Service Tribunal (FST) whereby a major penalty of dismissal from service of deputy commissioner Income Tax Department Lahore Syed Muhammad Ali was set aside and the department was directed to convert this penalty into acceptance of resignation.

The officer was posted in Lahore, however, due to the serious illness of his wife he had to take her abroad for medical treatment. He was allowed 365-day leave from Jan 29, 2008 to Feb 1, 2009.

According to the officer, the period of leave granted to him was inadequate and even after that he had to stay abroad in Canada for medical treatment of his wife. He applied for extension of leave but the department instead of extending his EOL leave dismissed him from service in 2013.

The deputy commissioner Income Tax challenged his dismissal through an appeal before the FST.

Advocate Hafiz Tariq Nasim had contended before the FST that the appellant was dismissed from service through ex-parte proceedings without affording an opportunity of personal hearing.

Moreover, he said, the proper procedure was not adopted for passing such a harsh penalty.

The counsel added that neither any show cause notice was served on the appellant nor the impugned notification of dismissal from service was conveyed to him by FBR.

The FST after hearing the counsel and all concerned parties and examination of the service record set aside the impugned notification.

The tribunal held that the resignation tendered by the appellant shall stand accepted from the date of presentation. It also ruled that the appellant will not be entitled to any type of back benefits.

The FBR challenged the order before the Supreme Court and took the plea that the FST had no jurisdiction to direct the departmental authorities to set aside the order of dismissal and convert into acceptance of resignation because long absence was already proved beyond any shadow of doubt.

Headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik, a two-judge bench heard the FBR petition at Lahore registry and upheld the decision of the FST.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2026