IHC restores Mushtaq Sukhera as tax ombudsman

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restored Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera as the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) with immediate effect. The IHC declared the law ministry notification for his removal null and void. The law ministry removed Sukhera in June. He was appointed in August, 2018 for a period of four years. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah announced the decision, which had earlier been reserved. After serving 30 years in the police department, Sukhera retired as Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab in 2017. Later, the then chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, had appointed him as adviser to the police department.

In 2018, he was appointed as the federal tax ombudsman. In June, he was removed from his post by the law ministry. The move, however, was challenged in the IHC. The high court, on June 14, issued a stay against the government decision.

According to a media report, Sukhera’s involvement in Lahore’s Model Town incident, in which over a dozen people were killed, had prompted his removal from the position. Last year, an anti-terrorism court had indicted Sukhera and 115 other police officials in connection with their alleged role in the June 2014 tragedy.

However, sources were quoted as saying that it was not the Model Town case alone which led to Sukhera’s sacking; his frequent rulings against officers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had also played a part.

According to sources, some senior officials of the FBR had submitted a representation against Mr Sukhera to President Dr Arif Alvi, prompting the dismissal.