KARACHI: Justice Muhmmad Shafi Siddiqui of High Court of Sindh on Thursday adjourned hearing of a suit filed by Umer Spining till Thursday , Sept 01with the warning to the Customs Appraisement, West to either implement the interim order or to face contempt proceedings.
Today when the bench took up an application filed by Customs Department, the single judge asked that whether the order was implemented or not. Masooda Siraj advocate representing Collector Customs, Appraisement, West submitted that interim order militates against the settled law and thus could not be implemented. She submitted that the implementation of the interim order would open a flood gate of identical suits. One similar suit is already fixed before your honour today and many more are in the pipeline, she submitted adding that a Pandora box would open as a result.
The bench expressed annoyance and said if the order was not acceptable to the defendants they should have avail legal remedy of filing an appeal before the appellate forum.
Khalid Javed Khan advocate, counsel for the plaintiff pressed for further hearing of the suit but Customs kept pressing for vacating the interim order which restrains them from raising or collecting Sales Tax from plaintiff. The plaintiff imports raw cotton, process the same (ginning and spinning). They claim benefit of SRO 1540 (1) of 2011 but Customs Appraisement has denied the benefit of zero rated Sales Tax.
The bench however after detailed and heated arguments put of hearing of the suit till Thursday next warning the defendant to either comply with the interim order or face contempt proceedings.
The same bench hearing an identical petition by Sunrays Textile asked the plaintiff to either pay the custom duty and other payables or wait for the fate of the suit above (Umer Spinning). The bench adjourned the hearing tagging the two cases.