KARACHI: The hearing of a constitution petition regarding release of Concrete Mixer Trucks was adjourned until Jan 12 by a division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) here Tuesday.

The bench earlier on a previous hearing called a report that whether the Pre-shipment Inspection Companies have local agents who can inspect the disputed imported goods. Today the bench asked that which “Loyd” PSI company has been hired by the customs.

Khawaja Shamsul Islam counsel for petitioner said that since the day one he is contending that any PSI can inspect the goods and that custom is resorting to delay tactics only. He perused the report submitted by the custom officer and said he is ready to argue out the matter. The court however adjourned further proceedings till Jan 12. Pakistan customs maintained that fundamental question is that whether the importer has violated the Import Policy or not. The customs counsel has submitted that the inspection report should have been obtained before import/pre-shipment from an authorized company or its authorized agent and both the two conditions are missing in this case.

Khawaja Shamsul Islam advocate counsel for the importer cited a number of examples wherein the local agents of pre-shipment inspection companies can inspect and issue a certificate of inspection and goods be released thereafter. The petitioner is seeking a similar treatment as was given to others, he said. The petitioners, a construction company challenged the detention of Concrete Mixer Trucks on ground that import of adapted vehicles/trucks is prohibited under Import Policy.