Lahore Court Summons Top FBR Officials in Defamation Case

Additional District and Sessions Judge, Lahore (ADSJ) has summoned Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue, and Commissioner Inland Revenue, Corporate Tax Office, Islamabad in a defamation case where both FBR officers declared a lawyer as habitual litigation against FBR. According to the details, the ADSJ has issued notices to the two Federal Board of Revenue Officer in a defamation suit moved by a tax lawyer against both officer wherein in an unconventional novel legal strategy adopted by both officers to defend their stance before the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) by declaring the lawyer as a habitual litigant against FBR. The defamation suit has been filed by a tax lawyer through an International Human Rights Activist Muhammad Azhar Siddique, Chairman Judicial Activism Panel, against two tax employees of CTO, Islamabad for their defamatory moves and requested the court to award a decree and general (compensatory) damages and special damages against the FBR officers and in favor of the Plaintiff lawyer amounting to Rs. 400,000,000 under Section 9 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002 and other enabling provisions of the law for the loss and injury caused by the Defendants’ defamatory actions which have caused irreparable loss and injury to the Plaintiff’s name, business, goodwill, stature and reputation. Reportedly, the CTO Islamabad chose to focus on the personal conduct of the lawyer representing the complainant before the FTO, rather than presenting a strong case based on legal merit. CTO has filed para-wise comments before the FTO in a novel manner, this tactic appears to be an attempt to deflect attention from the core legal issues and shift the burden onto the lawyer. Earlier, the FTO has ordered an investigation against the CTO for blunt violation of instructions issued by the FBR to provide copies of order sheet entries to the taxpayer, which is one of the constitutional rights as per binding orders passed by the higher/superior judiciary. CTO is involved in contemptuous attempts to undermine the authority of SCP in Mukhtar Ahmad Ali vs The Registrar, Supreme Court (2023 SCP 312) and binding verdicts in Waheed Shahzad Butt vs FOP (PLD 2016 Lah. 872) read with Article 19A of the Constitution: Lawyer added