12-year-old inter-services rivalry persists in FBR

ISLAMABAD: A 12-year old tension triggered over the promotion issue in the Federal Board of Revenue reaches the boiling point with the commoners and Income Tax Officers (ITOs) entering into a decisive battle being fought at the judicial and administrative fronts. It all started after the promotion of ITOs into BS-17 in 2003, less than five-year after their inductions and in excess of their prescribed 25% quota and without undertaking any promotional exam. It fuelled resentment among the tax officers who had joined FBR through CSS exam as BS-17 officers the same year and afterwards.
They have invoked jurisdiction of different courts, which have ruled in their favor, however, the decrees were allegedly ruled out by FBR high-ups with no compliance in sight.
As the departmental selection board of FBR is set to sit on June 15 to consider the promotion of ITOs to BS-19, the commoners are outraged at this decision considering it a violation of the court orders that had asked chairman FBR to decide the representation of the commoners before taking up the promotion matter.
Not only the ITOs were prematurely promoted to BS-17 and BS-18, their consideration for BS-19 is ahead of time since they have not completed their 12-year service in the existing scale, the commoners allege. A batch of ITOs was inducted in 1999 in BS-16 and promoted to BS-17 in 2003 without the completion of five-year service. Some of the officers of this batch were though promoted in 2004 and 2005 they were given seniority from 2003.
The commoners not only question the ‘illegal’ promotions of ITOs, they also accused the authorities of violating the prescribed quota limit of 25%, a fact that was also admitted by FBR before Peshawar High Court that had directed it to submit quota-related documents in 2014. Not only were they prematurely promoted to BS-17, some of them had received promotion into the next scale in 2007, before completing five-year prescribed length of service in BS-17. Others were promoted in the following year.
One has to serve for seven-year in BS-18 before consideration for promotion into BS-19. In the case of ITOs, they are being considered well before the completion of the prescribed length of service. Yet another legal obstacle in their way to promotion is the ruling of different courts being ignored by FBR.
Islamabad High Court had directed the FBR on July 18, 2014 to decide the representations of the commoners within one month, as it was to address the questions being raised about the seniority and violation of promotion quota. The FBR has not this done so far, though it had accepted before Peshawar High Court that ITOs were promoted over and above 25% quota prescribed for their promotion. Not only were the promotions in excess of quota, the Establishment Division had told Peshawar High Court in the same case that ITOs were promoted without undertaking any prescribed examination.
The Supreme Court has also ruled in a case that where rights of parties regarding seniority are under consideration and are still to be determined by the court with a result consequence of effecting further promotion and other rights, the department should keep its hands off unless there is specific order of the court for further proceedings on the part of the department in order to avoid further compliance.
The News contacted the FBR spokesman for version but he played it down saying inter-services rivalry is a routine matter and that FBR will look into all court rulings before taking any decision.