ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday restrained Ali Arshad Hakeem from working as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and suspended the notification for his appointment to the post.

The notification was issued by the establishment division on July 10 last year. Mr Hakeem was previously chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui issued the order on a petition seeking disqualification of Mr Hakeem. It was filed by international taxation secretary Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmad, a grade-19 officer of the FBR, through his counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan.

The court had on Feb 27 directed the FBR chairman and the federation to submit a reply to the petition by Monday, but they failed to do so.

Barrister Khan informed the court that there were about six BS-22 officers in the inland revenue and customs groups who were senior to Mr Hakeem and eligible to be appointed as chairman of the FBR. They were heading departments of various ministries, divisions and institutions, he added.

The counsel argued that the FBR chairman and revenue division secretary were purely civil service/cadre positions and these could not be filled by a non-cadre person. “These posts are too pivotal to be left open for private sector persons and that too without any cogent reason and open competition.

Moreover, the post of FBR chairman was not advertised in newspapers,” he said.

The petitioner said Mr Hakeem was a former civil servant who had joined the customs group of Civil Service of Pakistan but resigned after a few years.

Had he continued in his service, he would have still been in BS-19 like his other batch mates who were still working in the FBR as grade-19 officers.

He said that hundreds of serving officers in the customs group and inland revenue service were senior to Mr Hakeem, but they had been put under his command in violation of fundamental principles of merit, standing and seniority. The move had caused unease, anxiety, demoralisation and despondency in the FBR and led to a decline of about Rs200 billion in revenue collection, he claimed.

“The appointment of Mr Hakeem is not in accordance with the intent and purport of section 3 of the Federal Bureau of Revenue Act, 2007, as he lacks experience, educational qualification requisite for the due performance of the functions of the office,” the petitioner said.

The court adjourned the hearing to the second week of this month.

The summary forwarded by the establishment division to the prime minister contained only one name for post of FBR chairman whereas normally three names are suggested with comparative qualifications. It did not even mention the peculiar skills, expertise and qualifications needed to head the revenue function of the state.