KARACHI: Ahmed Mujtaba Memon, the Collector of Customs Adjudication-I, has issued Order-in-Original (ONO) against Water Link Pakistan (Private) Limited.
The ONO was also against Water link Pakistan Managing Director Ghulam Mustafa, manager, assistant manager (operations) Karachi Port Trust, broker of New Ittehad Shanwari, supervisor of Water Link, owner of confiscated vehicle, drivers, Ehsanuddin and Company (Private) Limited, Fayyaz Hussain of carrier Tracon Services (Private) Limited.
In the verdict, the collector was of the view that the charges leveled against the Water Links and its administrations in the show-cause notices stand established, as no claim of the impugned goods has been made by any authority which shows that all goods from two containers and partial goods from one container have undisputedly been pilfered.
The fact that the vehicles were in an unauthorised place without permission as prescribed in rules/law and after an extended delay with a door open and goods missing clearly shows that there has been “en-route pilferage of transit goods” as defined in Section 2(s) of the Customs Act, 1969.
The collector, in its judgment, also ordered for confiscating of the seized goods along with the containers and vehicles that they were laid on under clause 8 and 63 of Section, 156(1) and the Section 157 of the Customs Act, 1969.
In the judgment, the collector of customs adjudication stated “I impose a penalty of Rs 50 million under clause 8, 14, 63 and 64 of the Section 156(1) of the Customs Act, 1969 on M/s Water Link Pakistan Private Limited, who are responsible for paying duty and taxes due on the pilfered goods in terms of rule 484 of Customs Rules 2001 read with the Section 32(2) of the Customs Act, 1969”.
Moreover, the collector customs adjudication-I in the ONO has also imposed penalty of Rs 0.5 million on Water Links Managing Director Ghulam Mustafa and Rs 0.1 million on each including Water Links Manager Rizwan Yousaf, Assistant Manager KPT Muhammad Rizwan Ishaq, office boy Muhammad Rafiq, broker of New Ittehad Shanwari Idrees Khan, Supervisor Water Links Qaiser Ali, Satrah Khan, owner of the vehicle No TLQ-857; Muhammad Iqbal, driver of vehicle No TLC-514; Gull Nawab owner of vehicle No TLQ-857, Atif Iqbal driver of the Vehicle and Fayyaz Hussain, owner of vehicle No TLC-514.
It is important to mention that the MCC Preventive on midnight of December 6 raided at the Water Links Yard and found that one door of a container No LMSU-1400780, Seal No PCCSS-3456188 loaded on trailer No TLQ-857 was half open and few people were busy inside the container. Two persons namely Rizwan Yousaf and Qaiser Ali were immediately held by the officials of MCC Preventive.
Later on, the MCC Preventive in its seizure report No ASO/147/2013-Hqrs stated that the Water Link Pakistan Private Limited, who is an authorized bonded carrier for Afghan Transit has illegally engaged in breaking/open the NATO containers, which were being exported from Afghanistan to USA through Port Qasim without touching the seal and by removing rivets from one of the doors of the container, taking out the goods and re-riveting the containers.
