FBR’s Scrutiny Committee to Approve Cases Before Filing Appeals in High Courts

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided not to file appeals before High Courts against the orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) till cases are cleared/approved by a Scrutiny Committee. The FBR’s instructions to the field formations revealed that a meeting was held between the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Member Inland Revenue (Operations) and Member (Legal) on the issue of litigation by the department in the High Courts against the orders of the President/FTO. In order to avoid frivolous litigation and ensure that the Federal Board of Revenue’s resources are not spent on a losing cause, it is crucial to assess the merits of each case before filing a Writ/Constitutional Petition before High Courts. In this regard, it has been decided to constitute a Scrutiny Committee in the Legal Wing, FBR, to evaluate whether a case is worthy of further litigation or not in the High Courts. From now onwards, all field formations will send the complete details/summary/facts of the case to the Legal Wing for review by the aforesaid Scrutiny Committee. Once, the Committee is satisfied about the merits of the case, it will inform the Member (Legal) in writing. The orders of the President / FTO will only then be challenged before High Courts in writ petitions.