ABBOTTABAD, June 10: Record of lower courts in Abbottabad was burnt to ashes when Mohafiz Khana in the main kutchery building caught fire early on Friday.

The gutted building, which was already in dilapidated condition, contained record from 1872 to till date including important court verdicts.

The fire was extinguished after five hours of hectic efforts by fire tenders from Abbottabad, Havelian, Mansehra and Haripur.The adjacent building of the district accounts office and over 12 seats of lawyers were also damaged.

Commissioner Hazara, Khalid Khan Umerzai, constituted a two-member committee comprising Additional Commissioner Hazara, Ghafoor Baig, and Assistant Coordination Officer, Dr Azfar Nisar, to inquire into the incident.

It may be recalled that this was the third major incident of fire in the area housing court buildings as five years back another Mohafiz Khana containing land record was burnt to ashes, followed by a fire in the district accounts office two years back.

A staff member told this correspondent that the three-storey building comprising a major hall with three side rooms was full of court judgments including verdicts as old as before independence.

He said no efforts were made to maintain the old building where electricity wiring was more then 80 years old.

VACANT POSTS: Ministry of law has been approached for appointing accountant members in the Tribunal Inland Revenue, formerly known as Tax Appellate Tribunal and also filling vacant seats at Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar.

This was stated by Syed Saqlain Naqvi, Chairman, Tribunal Inland Revenue, while addressing a reception arranged by Hazara Tax Bar Association (HTBA) in his honour on Friday.

The function was attended by Pir Pervez Alam, Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office, Abbottabad, Saeed Akhter advocate, President Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Abbottabad Bench, officials of FBR, income and sales tax practitioners, senior lawyers, practicing accountants and members of HTBA.

Mr Naqvi asked the tax practitioners to be more fair and honest with the profession and ensure speedy disposal of cases.

While replying a question about the problems faced by the tax lawyers due to non-availability of departmental representatives to defend the cases from FBR, he favoured the suggestion of HTBA to establish full-time legal wings at lower levels to help ensure speedy justice to the litigants.