IHC vacates stay order on promotions in FBR

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday lifted the stay order on the promotion of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officers by the high power selection board.

The court directed the board to decide on the promotions within a month and submit report.

Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan heard the petition of FBR’s grade-21 officer Sahabzadi Shahbano Ghaznavi against not considering her promotion to grade-22. The court said that the promotion board’s proceedings have not been completed yet.

Therefore, the promotion process should not be delayed further.

During the hearing, the FBR lawyer said that the high power board meeting was held after two years, but this time also senior officers could not be promoted.

Justice Ishaq remarked that there was injustice on both sides.

“Is it legally correct to include officers in the admin pool for long time,” he asked.

The court inquired the FBR how long officers could be kept in the admin pool and was there any clear policy for that.

The FBR lawyer said that the admin poll was not a punishment but a stopgap arrangement.

After hearing the arguments, the court withdrew its stay order against the meeting of board for the promotions in the FBR.