Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the relevant authorities to expedite the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) legal steps being taken to ensure early closure of the tax revenue cases under trial.

Chairing a review meeting on expediting the FBR’s litigation, the Prime Minister directed to hire the services of the reputed lawyers to represent the FBR in tax revenue cases.

The Prime Minister pledged that the officers found involved in making cases on flimsy or false grounds will be punished.

On the other hand, he said that the officers who had constituted cases on merit with honesty and hard work will be rewarded with special incentives.

The meeting was told that on the instructions of the Prime Minister, reputable lawyers were brought into the panel and as a result, 586 cases were decided in the High Court from July to December 2024 and 637 pending cases were decided in the Supreme Court. .

The meeting was also informed that 33,522 cases involving Rs 4.7 trillion were currently pending in various courts and tribunals across the country.

It was told in the meeting that a litigation management dashboard had been developed for higher courts in FBR.