ISLAMABAD: Federal Tax Ombudsman Abdur Rauf Chaudhary, rejecting two review petitions filed by the director general of FBR’s Intelligence & Investigation-Inland Revenue and a tiles manufacturer, upheld the impugned order passed by FTO Advisor, regarding leakage of confidential information by the agency to the media.
The FTO issued order-in-view where interestingly both the review petitions filed by the Intelligence Department as well as manufacture were dismissed. This is a first of its kind of case where the FTO has dismissed the review petitions of both the parties. The main issue is related to the leakage of confidential information by the directorate to the media which was contested by the local manufacture.
According to an order-in-review officially released by the FTO Secretariat, both of the parties were aggrieved from the order and filed review petitions before the FTO against the said order. The Intelligence and Investigation wing of FBR took this plea that the words “Unbridled powers” should be expunged from the impugned order.
The FTO, while dismissing their review, held that merits of the case cannot be discussed in review petition since it is not an appellate forum and the scope of a review is limited to the extent of any error floating on the face of the order.
