ISLAMABAD: The government has withheld the notification of Ahmed Mujtaba Memon’s appointment as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman and his case will now be reviewed by a ministerial committee.
The sources said a ministerial committee will look into the case now. It will review the names of three candidates. Javed Ghani — a grade-22 officer currently serving as the Member Customs Policy — could be a strong candidate, the sources said. The names of Fazil Yazdani and Sarwat Tahira are also making the rounds in FBR and finance ministry circles. The committee comprises Adviser to the Prime Minister on Establishment Shehzad Arbab, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The federal cabinet had formed the committee to give a role to politicians in the appointment of federal secretaries.
The notification was ready to be issued on Saturday night but the government suddenly decided to withhold it, according to finance ministry sources. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had picked Memon as the new FBR chairman in place of Jehanzeb Khan.
Memon, an officer from the 15th batch of the Customs Group, is currently serving as the finance additional secretary in the Q Block. Earlier He was posted as Director General of Federal Board of Revenue’s Karachi Directorate General of Input-Output Co-efficient Organisation. He also served as Customs Adjudication Karachi where he heard and decided several important cases including once case of Rs 489m tax evasion against Tata Textile Mills. During his tenure as Collector Customs Hyderabad, the collectorate showed outstanding performance due to strict policies adopted by Ahmed Mujtaba Memon.
