KARACHI, Jan 22: The Federal Tax Ombudsman has ordered the income tax authorities to withdraw its notice issued to the Sui Southern Gas Company for the assessment year 1998-99.

The notice under Section 122 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 was issued on July 11, 2003, to the gas company by an additional commissioner of the Income Tax to show cause for disallowance of provision for obsolete stores and spares amounting to around Rs30 million.

Justice (retd) Saleem Akhtar in his 11-page decision on the complaint of the SSGC against the notice observed: "The facts clearly establish harassment, neglect, inattention, incompetence, and ineptitude exercised by the taxation officer and fall in the definition of maladministration".

According to Mohammed Javed Khurram, counsel for the gas company, the additional commissioner of Income Tax/TO-B, Large Taxpayers Unit, Karachi, unlawfully invoked the provision of Section 122 of the Income Tax ordinance 2001 as the section did not authorize the commissioner or any other officer to whom the powers were delegated to amend the order passed under Sections 66-A, 132 and 135 of the ordinance.

The ombudsman observed: "A perusal of Section 122 of the Income Tax ordinance 2001 makes it clear that it does not authorize the commissioner or any authority to amend the assessments, which have been framed under Section 66-A of the repealed ordinance".