LHC curtails federal tax ombudsman, president’s jurisdiction in tax matters

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has set aside orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) and the president, ruling that they had no jurisdiction to entertain a complaint about delayed adjudication of seized goods, since the matter fell squarely within the domain of the statutory tax authorities and appellate forums.

An LHC division bench comprising Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Abid Hussain Chattha issued the judgement, allowing a petition filed by the Commissioner Inland Revenue, Multan Zone, against a private cigarette dealer, the FTO, and the President’s Secretariat.

According to case details, the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (Inland Revenue), Multan, acting on secret information, obtained a search warrant and with police assistance, recovered 641 cartons of allegedly illicit, non-duty-paid and counterfeit cigarettes from the dealer’s premises.

The dealer’s representative could not produce invoices or records proving duty payment and a show-cause notice was issued to him.

Court sets aside orders on delayed adjudication of seized cigarettes

Court sets aside orders on delayed adjudication of seized cigarettes

Instead of responding to the notice, the dealer filed a complaint with the FTO under Section 10(1) of the Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000, alleging that the tax department had unduly delayed adjudicating the seized goods, causing him financial losses.

The FTO entertained the complaint and directed that adjudication proceed before the appropriate forum.

The tax department’s representation against this order was subsequently dismissed by the president,........

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