KARACHI: A customs appellate bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) hearing a constitutional petition filed by Flying Paper Industries Limited, Mongowal, District Khusab which challenged the non clearance of Bolier meant for its plant held that inability of the Pakistan customs for specialist deployment resulted in treatment meted out to petitioner company.
According to details, petitioner chose to set up a Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant called WHR Power Plant on the basis of guaranteed concessions from the government. The government under an amendment to Fifth Schedule of Custom Act 1969 exempted import of machinery, equipment, spares meant for the initial installation, balancing, modernization, replacement or expansion project for power generation through nuclear and renewable energy sources like solar, wind, micro hydel, bio energy, ocean, waste to energy and hydrogen cell etc.
The petitioner being the country’s largest cement manufacturer decided to install WHR Power Plant and made import of boiler. The customs through a communication refused to honor the concessionary regime and maintained that it will assessed outside the concessionary regime as it do not form the part of plant’s total component. Besides it was also maintained by Customs that boiler of same specification is available in local market.
The counsel for Pakistan Customs submitted that the said consignment is treated as isolated import and not part of the complete WHR Power Plant.
The bench after hearing the sides held that “The treatment meted out to the petitioner by the Custom Authorities seemingly is on the account of non-inclusion of Engineers and Material Scientists in the Customs Prevention & Examination departments where specific mention of Engineers and Material Scientists is given for such posts”. The bench order the Chairman FBR to ensure the deployment of specialists and report to the MIT within two months.
The bench then allowed the petition with directions to the respondents to release the boiler while treating it as partial shipment of the WHR Power Plant.