LAHORE The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has imposed major penalty of ‘compulsory retirement from service’ upon a customs appraising officer on the charges of misconduct and inefficiency.
According to a notification, the FBR said that disciplinary proceedings under Government Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 1973 were initiated against Nihal Kazim, Appraising Officer (BS-16), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi through a charge sheet issued on October 29, 2019.
Ms. Rabel Khokhar, Assistant Collector, the then Collectorate of Customs Appraisement, Customs House, Karachi was appointed as Inquiry Officer to conduct inquiry on account of various acts of omission and commission committed by the accused officer constituting “Inefficiency” and “Misconduct”.
The Inquiry Officer submitted Inquiry Report dated January 29, 2020, according to which the charges of “Inefficiency” and “Misconduct” were established against the accused officer.
A show cause Notice dated July 17, 2020 was issued to the accused officer and in response, he submitted his defence reply and also appeared for personal hearing before the Collector/Authorized Officer on August 11, 2020.
After considering the inquiry report, reply of the accused to the Show Cause Notice and his oral submissions during the personal hearing with the Authorized Officer, the accused officer has been found guilty of “Inefficiency” and “Misconduct”.
The Authorized Officer/ Collector recommended imposition of major penalty upon the accused. The Member (Admn/HR) / Authority before deciding the case afforded an opportunity of personal hearing to the accused on zoom/ telephone phone due to his illness on June 23, 2022.
The Member (Admn), FBR being “Authority” in this case, after having carefully considered case record, inquiry report, verbal submissions of the accused during hearing and recommendations of the Authorized Officer/ Collector has found no solid evidence and merits in the stance of the accused for his prolonged un-authorized absence from duty for three years.
Accordingly, the Member (Admn/ HR) / Authority has observed that the charges of “Inefficiency” and “misconduct” under Rule-3(a)&(b) of Civil Servants (E&D) Rules, 1973 stand established against the accused.
The Authority has, therefore, imposed major penalty of “Compulsory Retirement from Service” upon Nihal Kazim, Appraising Officer (BS-16), Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi under Rule 4(1)(b)(ii) of the Civil Servants (E&D) Rules, 1973. Moreover, his period of absence from duty i.e. November 20, 2016 till date is treated as Extra Ordinary Leave (EOL) and the excess amount drawn as pay and allowances is to be recovered from pensionary benefits.
He will have a right to file appeal against this Order to the Appellate Authority under Civil Servants (Appeals) Rules, 1977 within a period of 30 days from the date of communication of this Notification.
