KARACHI: The judgment in a long–drawn gold smuggling case was deferred on Tuesday for the third time. The Special Court of Customs Taxation and Anti-Smuggling has set October 22 for the pronouncement of the judgment.
Earlier, Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi reserved the verdict in the case and fixed August 29 for its judgment but it could not be announced on that date as the judge was on leave. The court office, therefore, adjourned the pronouncement of the judgment to September 17. It was once again deferred and the court fixed September 29 for announcement of judgment.
On Tuesday, the investigation officer of Pakistan Customs Zulifqar Ali Sheikh and three suspects were present in courtroom to hear the outcome of the case but it was deferred due to absence of suspect Dawood.
According to details, in February 1996 the Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) of the Pakistan Customs thwarted a bid to smuggle gold into the country. The ASO caught a boat with 12,000 tolas of gold worth Rs 600 million. Four suspects Hussain, Dawood, Abbas and Muhammad Umer, who were on the boat, were arrested.
Subsequently, the custom authorities registered a case against the accused persons under the relevant sections of Customs Act 1969. The accused were later released by the court on bail.
According to the official sources, it is a long-drawn smuggling case in the history of such cases as it suffered inordinate delays because of frequent transfers of investigation officers and prosecutors. Besides, the Court heard arguments four times and reserved the verdict of judgment two times but the decision could not be announced. Thus, the criminal trial re-opened again.
