KARACHI: A divisional bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) comprising Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan on Thursday disposed of a petition filed by Pak Afghan Cargo Service against penalty of rupees 15,000,000 for submitting forged and fake documents purportedly issued by US Consulate General.
The bench allowed a request by the petitioner for granting ten days time to approach the Special Customs Appellate Tribunal against order in original imposing fine on the petitioner.
The concession came as Ilyas Ahsan, law officer Pakistan Customs said department has no objection if the petitioner was given time to move the tribunal.
The petitioner cited Chief Collector Customs, MCC West, and Collector Customs Investigating Officer Abdul Ghani Soomro as respondents in the petition.
According to details of the case available with the Customnews.pk, petitioner is a custom bonded carrier having a license no 2222 and was alleged of fraudulent transportation of Afghan Transit Trade commercial consignment in the guise of non-commercial consignment belonging to US Military.
The Custom authorities upon post factors verification found that documents purportedly issued by the US Consulate General at Karachi and submitted by the petitioner were declared fake and forged.
The US Consulate in its letter termed the four letter as forged after which the custom authorities imposed a fine of rupees 15 million. The petitioner was required to pay the fine within sixty days. Masooda Siraj advocate for Customs said that order in original has been passed and petitioner may have approached the tribunal for redressal of his grievance. The bench asked the petitioner that when an alternate remedy was available to him why he filed the writ petition.
The counsel for petitioner insisted on remedy through writ jurisdiction. The bench disagreed to the proposition but providing relief said that it could only allow time to the petitioner to avail the alternate remedy available to him under the law.
The bench recording the statement by counsel for customs that Ono will not be enforced for ten days disposed of the petition.