ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Manullah on Thursday directed the government to restore Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera on the post of Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO).
The Law Ministry removed Sukhera from the post by de-notifying his appointment on June 14.
A notification issued by the ministry had said: “In pursuance of President Secretariat (Public) U.O. No 5 (106)/L&J/Dir (Coord-V)/2019 dated June 03, 2019, Ministry of Law and Justice Notification of even number dated August 31, 2018, regarding the appointment of Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera (retired PSP/BS-22) as the Federal Tax Ombudsman is hereby withdrawn ab initio.”
Informed sources had said that, then serving as Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sukhera’s involvement in the incident in Lahore’s Model Town, in which over a dozen people were killed, led to his removal from the position.
Sukhera challenged his dismissal before the IHC. He assailed the notification of June 12 that informed him about the withdrawal of the notification of his appointment against the post of FTO in August last year.
The high court had on June 14 suspended his termination and sought a reply from the federal government. After the government failed to satisfy the court upon the matter, the court extended the stay order issued against the termination of Sukhera’s services and adjourned hearing till Aug 8.
Sukhera was appointed as the Federal Tax Ombudsman in Aug 2017 by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.