KARACHI: A division bench of High Court of Sindh (SHC) comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Omar Sial on Monday issued notices to the Chairman FBR, Deputy Attorney General, Collector Pakistan Customs, East and West for Oct 26 while hearing a number of petitions challenging imposition of Regulatory Duty (RD) on 431 items aimed at reducing country’s import bill.

Advocate of Franklin Law Associates appearing for the petitioners including business bodies like FPCCI, private companies and importers submitted that the federal government has violated the guidelines given by the superior courts and no approval from federal cabinet was taken before imposing RD. He also submitted that a large number of items are not manufactured in the country like perfumes, air fresheners, chemicals and fan coils etc.

The bench after hearing the initial arguments by the counsel for petitioner ordered issuance of notices to the respondents for Oct26.

The bench is likely to hear other identical petitions today.