The Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit comprehensive inquiry reports within one month into an estimated $1 billion in annual revenue losses linked to tobacco sector tax evasion and the theft of 2,828 cigarette cartons.
The committee met at Old PIPS Hall, Parliament Lodges, under the chairmanship of Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman, with Senators Talha Mahmood, Saifullah Abro, Shahadat Awan, Mir Dostan Khan Domki, Umer Farooq, Jam Saifullah Khan, Palwasha Khan and Dilawar Khan in attendance, along with the Minister of Interior, the Interior Secretary, and senior officials from the FBR and FIA.
Reviewing a sub-committee report prepared under Convener Senator Saifullah Abro, members examined losses attributed to tax evasion, illicit manufacturing, and trade malpractices in the tobacco sector, including factories operating in tax-exempted areas of the former FATA, PATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The committee scrutinised the FIA’s inquiry into the theft of 2,828 cigarette cartons and the registration of the related FIR, expressing dissatisfaction that only lower-ranked officials had been named while directing the agency to report progress on the investigation.
Members questioned why administrative notices targeting a Rs 1,120 billion tax-exempted zone had been issued largely against transport drivers rather than factory owners.
Senator Talha Mahmood raised concerns over procedural flaws in the initial case registrations, noting that individuals identified in preliminary inquiries had been dropped from final charges. A further audit of FBR warehouse protocols found missing CCTV coverage, absent inventory ledgers, and unverified handovers of confiscated contraband.
The committee also examined the legal basis for the FIA to conduct independent tax inquiries within the FBR’s domain and instructed both institutions to establish a coordinated operational mechanism.
It reviewed notifications granting the Frontier Corps and Pakistan Rangers anti-smuggling authority in border areas of the former FATA and PATA, which officials said had been delegated because of the local law and order situation. A sub-committee was formed to further investigate the tax evasion matter.
On consular affairs, the committee reviewed Rule 18 of the Passport Rules 2021, which governs Emergency Travel Documents for the one-way repatriation of stranded or deported citizens.
Chairman Rehman questioned delays in national status verification and family tree attestation involving foreign missions and the Intelligence Bureau, and raised complaints that Pakistani embassies abroad often issue passports valid for one to three years instead of the standard five. He informed the committee that a bill to reform passport rules and simplify procedures for overseas Pakistanis is currently before the Senate.
Concluding the session, Chairman Rehman directed the FBR and FIA to present verified physical stock registers for all seized warehouse goods and to ensure future enforcement actions target factory owners and main beneficiaries rather than field-level personnel.
