Senior FBR officers made OSD after PM Shehbaz's criticism

• Top FBR officials have been placed in admin pool.
  
• PM Shehbaz terms track, trace agreement a fraud.
  
• FBR rank and file unhappy over move.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reshuffled the top officials in a major shakeup and made them Officers on Special Duty (OSDs) following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s criticism of the tax collection body for its failure to implement the track and trace system launched in 2019, The News reported on Friday.

The OSD in Pakistan refers to a government officer without a duty or waiting for a posting order or demoted.

A day ago, PM Shehbaz had said the track and trace system was a “cruel joke” with the country as it could not enhance tax collection in the tobacco, fertiliser, cement and sugar sectors.

Presiding a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, the prime minister had warned that those embroiled in embezzlement and criminal negligence would be brought to justice.

He termed the track and trace agreement a fraud saying that it did not include a penalty clause. He directed to form an inquiry committee to investigate and present its report on the system in three days.

Following the premier's scathing remarks about FBR's performance, its senior officials, such as Member Customs (Operation) and Member Inland Revenue (Policy), were given the OSD status and sent to the board's administrative pool.

The fact that officers from both the Customs Group and the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) were moved and added to the OSD list is intriguing, the publication said.

All such measures have been taken by Secretary Management HR-IR-1. The move, according to the report, has angered the FBR’s rank and file who were of the view that the top political leadership was treating them harshly over non-issues, sometimes on aspects which were not in their control at all.

These officers also criticised their weak leadership, which failed to protect them.

According to a notification issued on Friday, 13 key members/director generals of the board and two chief commissioners Inland Revenue as well as Customs Group’s top officers have been placed in the admin pool.

These officers are Mukarram Jah Ansari (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-22), Member, (Legal & Accounting-Customs) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Mrs. Shah Bano G.M Khan (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Director General, (IOCO) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Dr. Fareed Iqbal Qureshi (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Member, (Customs Operations) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Tariq Mustafa Khan (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Member, (Accounting) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Ahmad Rauf (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Law & Prosecution, Islamabad; Mirza Mubashir Baig (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Customs Valuation, Karachi; Hyder Ali Dharejo (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office I, Karachi; Muhammad Azam Sheikh (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Internal Audit (Inland Revenue), Islamabad; Muhammad Saleem (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Chief Collector, Chief Collector of Customs, Appraisement (South), Custom House, Karachi; Abdul Wahid Uqaily (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office II, Karachi; Afaque Ahmed Qureshi (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Member, (IR-Policy) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Khurshid Ahmad Khan Marwat (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office, Islamabad.

Asim Majid Khan, a BS-21 officer of Inland Revenue Service, presently posted as Member (Legal-IR), FBR, was transferred and posted as Member (Admin Pool), FBR.

The publication added that the FBR made these drastic changes after receiving reports from intelligence agencies.