Court acquits income tax commissioner

An accountability court on Thursday acquitted Income Tax Commissioner Muhammad Zulfiqar Ali nominated in a reference of piling up illegal assets worth Rs 59 million. Ali had been charged with purchasing properties, defence saving certificates and special saving certificates beyond his means. According to the reference, Ali joined the Income Tax Department as an income tax officer (ITO) in 1997 and in 1985, he had only Rs 65 thousand as savings from all the known sources, and until 1999, he was the owner of several assets worth Rs 59 million. During 1985-1999, the accused purchased different properties in the name of his wife, Imtiaz Bano, and son, Usman Zulfiqar. Ali purchased special saving certificates worth Rs 1.9 million and defence saving certificates worth Rs 0.8 million along with shares worth Rs 0.135 million in the name of his wife. However, according to the income tax record, the accused’ wife was a housewife and her income till 1999 from all known sources was Rs 1.6 million. During the investigation, accused could not justify the amount that he spent on the purchase of assets.