KARACHI: An appellate bench of High Court of Sindh comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Mrs Ashraf Jahan on Thursday dismissed two identical petitions filed by importers of porcelain and ceramic tiles from China.
According to details, the petitioners consignment was declared under PCT Heading 216 0f 2013 which was challenged by way of writ petition before the Islamabad High Court. The IHC ordered provisional release of the consignments. The department went into an appeal. The court later ordered transfer of case to single judge with order to re-assess the imported 42 consignments.
The collector East, West and Port Muhammad Bin Qasim jointly re-assessed the consignments but still release was denied. The petitioner then filed another application before the SHC.
The bench hearing the sides in detail dismissed the petitions. There were 42 consignments which landed during a period of four months, each carrying duties and taxes worth rupees 600000-700000 per consignment. Franklin Law Associates represented Pakistan Customs in these petitions.