ISLAMABAD: The office of chairman of Customs Appellate Tribunal has become vacant on Friday as Ghulam Murtaza Bhatti has completed his two years’ tenure at the tribunal.
According to the official records of the tribunal, Ghulam Murtaza Bhatti had fulfilled his tenure as member judicial. And with ending of his tenure, the office of chairman of the Customs Appellate Tribunal had gone vacant in absence of new appointment by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
According to sources, the ministry had even not recommended name of any person for the post, and the matter was likely to take extra days as the recommendation has to be approved by the prime minister.
Tribunal’s officials commented that Ghulam Murtaza Bhatti had thin chances of being reappointed as tribunal’s chairman. Such decision was difficult to make by the ministry since higher judiciary had time and again reinstated the need of consultation with apex court’s judges while appointing the tribunals’ heads and members.
It is pertinent to mention that ATIR was also functioning without chairman who had completed his tenure in month of March and yet no appointment was made to head the tribunal.
