LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a notice to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan in a contempt of court petition filed by a tax lawyer following violation of Right to Information laws and non-implementation of High Court order by the FBR.
It was learnt that the FBR has failed to implement the order passed by the LHC wherein it ruled that recommendations of Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee (ADRC) constituted under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 and Sales Tax Act, 1990, are not secret under Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002 (FOI) and right of individual privacy has no application to the proceedings of ADRC.
The petitioner Waheed Shahzad Butt had challenged the FBR’s denial to provide information relating to decision/recommendation issued by ADRC. The LHC ruled that citizens have been granted a right to access to official/public record and that an applicant (requester) need not provide any reason for seeking such record. In fact, it is a complete, self-contained, exhaustive code in regard to a person’s right to access to information/record of public bodies.
