KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday fixed a date to indict three senior Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials in a contempt of court case involving fashion designer Nomi Ansari.
During the proceedings, the court expressed strong displeasure over the FBR’s handling of a fraud case against Ansari. The bench noted that both the federal government and the tax authority had failed to satisfy the court regarding their actions in the alleged tax fraud matter.
The court took exception to the FBR’s move to pursue criminal proceedings against the petitioner in the tax dispute while allegedly ignoring court directives.The officials facing contempt proceedings include Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue Zahid Masood, Commissioner Inland Revenue Rizwan Memon, and senior officer Sehrish Javed.
The court has scheduled the indictment for August 20 and has issued notices to the Advocate General of Sindh and the Prosecutor General of Sindh to appear at the hearing.
Ansari’s counsel informed the court that his client was barred from travelling to Dubai on June 9 after his name was placed on the passport control list.
Chief Justice Junaid Ghaffar remarked that the court had asked the FBR to explain its actions, yet an FIR was still registered against the petitioner.
He questioned why criminal action was being taken over a tax issue, although court decisions existed on the matter.
As FBR lawyer Zahid Ibrahim sought more time, the chief justice noted that the deadline to file counter-affidavits had already passed and said the parties would now be indicted.
The petitioner’s lawyer added that the court had earlier suspended proceedings in the tax fraud case and had sought reasons from the FBR for registering the FIR, but the authority had failed to do so.
He informed the bench that Ansari was scheduled to represent Pakistan at a fashion show in the United States on July 9, but was unable to travel due to his name being on the passport control list.
