In its previous order, the IHC bench had noted that it is the case of the federal government that appointment of FTO under section 3 of the Establishment of the office of FTO Ordinance, 2000 exclusively vested with the President and it has been argued on behalf of the federal government that the appointment of the petitioner could not have been made on the advice of the cabinet or the prime minister.
Sukhera moved the court through his counsel Zainab Janjua Advocate and cited President of Pakistan through secretary to the president, the prime minister through principal secretary and secretary law as respondents. In his petition, he assailed the notification dated June 12 whereby the president has withdrawn his notification of appointment against the post of FTO.
His counsel contended before the court that the appointment and removal of the FTO is governed under the establishment of the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000 and the Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms Act, 2013.
She referred to section 6(2) of the Ordinance of 2000 and section 5 of the Act of 2013 in support of her contention that once the FTO has been appointed and taken oath of office, his removal can only be made through the Supreme Judicial Council.
Therefore, the petitioner prayed to the court to set aside the said impugned notification for being illegal and without jurisdiction. He also requested the court to restrain the respondents from interfering in the due performance and functioning of the petitioner as FTO.
The federal govt had earlier removed Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera from the post of FTO withdrawing the official notification for his appointment. Former Inspector General (IG) of Police in Punjab, Mushtaq Sukhera had been appointed the FTO in August 2017 by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.