ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue took serious notice that Customs Collectorates Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore (Appraisement & Preventive) filed appeals and customs references before the high court after approval of the legal committee constituted by the concerned collector instead of referring the matters to legal wing for seeking guidance for future action.
Sources told Customs Today that majority of the cases were decided against the department by the high court as they were lacking solid grounds. Many cases were answered negatively by the court simply stating the case did not involve any question of law.
Federal Board of Revenue observed that this reflected poor administration control and lack of coordination between the legal wing and field offices. This practice also resulted in wastage of time and increased the cost of handling legal cases.
According to a circular issued by the secretary (Legal), no appeals, references or revision would be filed before the High Court or the Supreme Court without the prior occurrence the federal board of revenue.
Further, one of the functions of Member Legal elaborated on the official website of the Federal Board of Revenue indicated that he will grant approval for filing of appeals and references before High Courts. FBR has directed strict compliance of the SOPs circulated to the field offices.
