The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and upheld the decision of the Service Tribunal regarding payment of headquarters allowance to FBR employees.
During the hearing, FBR’s counsel contended that government employees were paid executive allowance, while FBR employees had been granted headquarters allowance instead. He argued that the allowance could not be extended to employees serving under the time-scale system.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi asked whether the headquarters allowance had been approved by the Prime Minister. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb directed that the summary relating to the allowance be immediately summoned to ascertain the factual position.
On the court’s direction, the relevant summary concerning the FBR headquarters allowance was produced during the hearing.
The FBR counsel submitted that the headquarters allowance was meant for officers in Grade 17, whereas the present petitioners were not Grade-17 employees.
The Chief Justice observed that the summary contained no such distinction and remarked that if the FBR wanted to exclude time-scale employees from the allowance, it should send a fresh summary.
The FBR counsel also contended that the matter did not fall within the jurisdiction of the Service Tribunal and requested the court to issue notice to the Finance Division.
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the FBR’s appeals and maintained the Service Tribunal’s decision in favour of the employees.
More than 40 FBR employees had filed applications seeking headquarters allowance on the basis of their time-scale status, following which the Service Tribunal had ruled in their favour.
