KARACHI: A custom appellate bench of High Court of Sindh disposing of two Special Custom Reference Applications filed by Customs Department set aside the orders passed by the lower forums while referring the matter to the Classification Committee of concerned Appraisement Collectorate.
The bench heard arguments from counsel for applicant department Directorate of Intelligence & Investigations, Khalid Mehmood Rajpar Advocate Aneel Zia, counsel for respondents.
The counsel fo respondents submitted that the custom appellate tribunal erred in law when it decided the classification of goods whereas these matters ought to have been referred to the Classification Committee of the Appraisment Collectorate in terms of Chapter-1 of CGO 12/2002.
The case pertains to alleged misdeclaration by Infotel Pakistan Private Limited which declared the goods as “PVC Plastic Cards Magnetic Stripe & Chip” and sought clearance under PCT Heading 8523.2100 at zero Custom Duty whereas the goods were classifiable as Smart Debit/ATM Card with Magnetic Stripe and Chip attracting PCT Heading 8523.5290 attracting 3 per cent Custom Duty.
The said company as per details got 131 consignments cleared using the same mods operandi against total value of Rupees 1,096,815,240.