ZUBAIR FEED INDUSTRIES (PRIVATE) LIMITED vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Chairman Federal Board of Revenue S

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ZUBAIR FEED INDUSTRIES (PRIVATE) LIMITED VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Chairman Federal Board of Revenue S. 175C---Posting of officers of Inland Revenue at the business premises for monitoring---Issuance of order by competent / designated authority, absence of---Effect---Approval by the designated authority---Scope ---Objection of the Petitioner/Taxpayer being was the orders had not been issued by the Competent Authority (the Board or the Chief Commissioner) prescribed under S. 175C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 ('the Ordinance, 2001') but by the Additional Commissioner, Inland Revenue---Validity---When a statute vests power in a particular authority, such power must be exercised by that authority alone, unless there exists an express provision of delegation duly notified in accordance with law---Section 175C of the Ordinance, 2001 confers authority upon the Board or the Chief Commissioner only, to order the posting of officers of Inland Revenue to the business premises of a person or class of persons for the purpose of monitoring---The wording of the provision leaves no room for ambiguity that the discretion has been consciously restricted to the Board or the Chief Commissioner---Therefore, the Additional Commissioner, Inland Revenue, does not find mention in the statutory scheme, nor is there any enabling provision authorizing him to issue such orders independently or on behalf of the Chief Commissioner---When the law requires a thing to be done in a particular manner, then the same is to be done in that manner only---In the present case, although the office orders recited that "approval" had been obtained from the Chief Commissioner and that the Chief Commissioner was "pleased to appoint", the operative parts in the orders were issued under the signature and seal of the Additional Commissioner, Inland Revenue, the act of signing and issuing an order was not a mere ministerial formality, it was the very exercise of statutory discretion---Unless the record demonstrated that the Chief Commissioner himself passed the order and consciously exercised his statutory discretion, an order issued by any other officer lacking jurisdiction was legally unsustainable---Approval or acquiescence, without direct exercise of power by the designated authority, does not cure the defect---Moreover, S.175C of the Ordinance, 2001 does not contemplate or authorize delegation of power to any officer other than the Board or the Chief Commissioner---Legislative intent is explicit in confining the power to said authorities alone, thereby excluding the possibility of delegation and or sub-delegation---Any attempt to vest such power in an Additional Commissioner or an officer subordinate would be contrary to the express mandate of the statute---Consequently, the issuance of such orders by the Respondent (Additional Commissioner Inland Revenue) without any valid delegation under the law, rendered them ultra vires and void ab initio---Thus, High Court set-aside Office Orders extending posting declaring the same to be without lawful authority while the initial posting orders stood spent by efflux of time---Constitutional petition , filed by taxpayer/company , was partly allowed accordingly.

ZUBAIR FEED INDUSTRIES (PRIVATE) LIMITED vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Chairman Federal Board of Revenue S — 2026 PTD 126 ISLAMABAD

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