KARACHI: Pakistan Customs was facing a disadvantage before High Court of Sindh in defending cases against the department as its leading legal team member Ilyas Ahsan Khan retired on Jan 20 on attaining age of superannuation.

He served as Appraising Officer for decades and was considered main stay of law department of Karachi Customs for his legal acumen and understanding of laws particularly Customs Act 1969. Having a cool head and law on his fingertips, he faced benches and judges with ease and in 99 per cent cases satisfied them.

His handling of cases which he won almost every day yielded billions of rupees in custom duty, taxes etc. After his retirement, the defense of department in cases would prove an uphill task for lawyers replacing him on behalf of the department.