KARACHI: A divisional bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) comprising Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan Wednesday announcing a judgment directed the Special Customs Appellate Tribunal to decide the appeal by the petitioner within 30 days besides disposing of any application within seven days.
The bench earlier reserved the order on previous Friday in a number of identical petitions seeking release of consignment under section 81 after exhausting departmental remedy. The bench heard counsel for petitioner Haji Khan Haji Habib and others in four separate petitions.
The petitioner are importers of the powdered, skimmed milk and other products. They challenged the Valuation Ruling 780/ 2015 which they maintain arbitrary and on higher side. The petitioner challenged the Valuation Ruling and later went into departmental appeal and then filed an appeal before Special Customs Appellate Tribunal.
Today, Masooda Siraj advocate filed the vakalatnama to represent Directorate of Customs Valuation and said that petitioner have exhausted remedy before the adjudicating authorities and have appealed against the ONO. She submitted that once an appeal is filed, goods could not be released under section 81 of the Pakistan Customs Act 1969.
The counsel for petitioners maintains that Valuation Ruling 780/2015 is on higher side and ultra vires of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 being arbitrary and in violation of methods prescribed under section 25 of the Customs Act.
They also prayed to the court to direct the respondents to assess their consignments as per actual transactional value.