KARACHI: More than 50 petitions challenging imposition of Regulatory  Duty (RD) through Finance Act 2017 were disposed of by a customs Appellate bench of High Court of Sindh declaring the RD imposition with retrospective effect as void, ab_initio.

The bench heard petitions filed by Dewan Motors and 52 other companies.
The bench re_endorsed its judgment in case reported as 2018 PTD 861 in which
the bench relying on Mustafa Impex case has declared the imposition of RD as illegal.

The bench referred to all case laws on the same question if law and reiterated that Parliament is no cindered with unfettered powers to delegate the taxing power to any person or authority other than the Federal government. The bench declared that collection or recovery of RD during Finance Act 2017 till 2018 as illegal and without jurisdiction. As a result government will be returning huge amount collected during the impunged period.