The instant miscellaneous applications have been filed by the taxpayer . It has been alleged that the assessing officer namely Mr. Rashid Mehmood Bhettani, Deputy Commissioner Inland Revenue, RTO, Rawalpindi had recovered a sum of Rs,2.608,617/- disregarding the stay granted by this Tribun al vide MA (Stay) 705/IB/2014, MA(Stay) No, 706/IB/2014 and MA(Stay) No, 707/IB/2014 dated 23.12.2014.
2. In response to call notice Mr. Atif Waheed advocate appeared on behalf of the applicant and Mrs. Nazia Zeb DR appeared on behalf of the department. Mr . Rashid Mehmood Bhettani, the concerned DCIR also attended.
3. Learned AR informed that the stay order dated 23.12.2014 mentioned supra was duly communicated to the DCIR vide their letter No, 1550 dated 24.12.2014. Despite having knowledge of the stay, the said DCIR pursued the recovery from bank account of the taxpayer . The learned AR asserted that this act of the DCIR was illegal, high handed and tantamount to contempt of court. The learned DR regretted the recovery of tax despite grant of stay by this Tribunal by saying that such incident had never occurred before and assured that will not happen again. Mr. Rashid Mehmood Bhettani DCIR tried to explain that he pursued recovery of the outstanding tax due to the fact that the stay order issued by This Tribunal had mentioned address of the Commissioner Inland Revenue Islamabad instead of Commissioner Inland Revenue Rawalpindi. His explanation is nothing but a lame excuse, as he was fully aware that the appellant was assessed in his jurisdiction and the taxpayer was pursuing his case before this Tribunal for grant of stay .
4. During the course of proceedings the assessing officer further stated that recovery in the instant case was not yet effected and the department had already withdrawn recovery notice under section 140 of the Income Tax Ordinance. He produced a copy of his letter No, 828 dated 29.12.2014. Perusal of this letter indicates that recovery notice has been withdrawn subject to clearance of pay order issued by Habib Bank Limited. It means that the recovery process has not been stopped even B after receipt of the stay order . We are of the opinion that the assessing officer tried to mislead the court by giving impression that the recovery proceedings have been stopped after receipt of order .
5. We take exception to such attitude by the DCIR. The orders of this Tribunal are binding on all field formations in letter and spirit. Any violation of this Tribunal's order will seriously damage the dispute resolution Infrastructure so delicately built upon a long tradition of legal C history and rule of law. Honourable Lahore High Court in Writ Petition No, 19567 of 2014 in the case of Messrs Siza International Private Limited v. Federation of Pakistan dated 17.07.2014 in a similar situation has held as under:-- "In the given circumstances, the Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue is directed to look into this issue and take notice of the hasty action taken by an officer of the FBR to recover tax even when the appeal is pending and especially when an interim order has been issued by the Appellate Tribunal or by another Court for that matter . He should also take notice of the specific acts of delay by the Respondent No, 2 and take necessary action on this issue, Furthermore, since the Respondent No, 2 did not order to detach the accounts of the Petitioner within the stipulated time and delayed the matter , a fine of Rs,50,000/- is imposed upon the Respondent No, 2, which should be paid by the Respondent No, 2 from his own pocket and deposited with Deputy Registrar (Judicial) of this Court.
Compliance report shall be submitted through Deputy Registrar (Judicial) of this Court."
6. We therefore order that the amount of Rs,2,608,617/- should be immediately refunded to the taxpayer , under intimation to this Tribunal within seven days of receipt of this order . We also impose penalty of Rs,50,000/- upon Mr. Rashid Mehmood Bhettani which should be paid by him from his own pocket and deposited with Deputy Registrar , Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, Headquarter , Islamabad. We also direct that a suitable action against the concerned of ficer for violation of the orders of this Tribunal may be taken.
7. A copy of this order may be endorsed to Chairman FBR for his information and ensuring suitable disciplinary action against the of ficer.