KARACHI: A three member full bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb dismissed two civil petitions No 500-K and 501-K of 2025 filed by Messer’s Burki & Co and Ameer Muhammad Association against Director of Intelligence & Investigation (Customs) Karachi. Salahuddin Ahmed represented the petitioners while respondent Pakistan Customs DIT was represented by Khalid Mehmood Rajper Advocate.
The petitions pertains to detention and confiscation of 26 Hino Prime Movers imported in violation of terms and conditions of para 9 (ii) (1) and (5) of the Import Policy Order (IPO) 2013. As a result of this order a ten year old controversy was finally decided with a strict observation against the Custom Appellate Tribunal as the apex court order reads as follows “Thus the Tribunal travelled beyond the interpretation provided by this Court which was binding on the Tribunal. It is also inconceivable that after release of the vehicles the respondent department had no jurisdiction to overview the implementation of the IPO 2013, whether of not violated. The petitioners thus by their own design prevented themselves to undergo statutory adjudication which has now concluded. The subsequent adjudication by the Tribunal, as preferred by the petitioners is also hit by the doctrine of election”.
The legal doctrine of election rooted in fundamental principles of jurisprudence is the act of choosing between two or more remedies or legal option available to address a particular issue or dispute. The exercise of choice, particularly, the act of selecting from among various available rights or remedies in a manner that prohibits the utilization of their alternatives. The scope of such doctrine is extended to remedies. Forum and pleadings. In the instant case, not only the election of remedies but the forum and pleadings are also applicable, the judgment says adding that “Once a dispute via judgment reached finality between the involved parties, it cannot be re-visited and that too by a lower forum”.
The full text of judgment follows for benefit of our readers.
26 Hino Prime Movers case Burki & Co