KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the customs authorities to provisionally release the consignments of toilet soaps after receiving custom duty and taxes.
A division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed the importers to deposit the disputed amount of duty with the nazir of the court.
Earlier, advocate G Hyder Shaikh, who represented the customs authorities, sought time to file comments.
M/s Abdullah and Company, M/s ARG Enterprises, Fahad Enterprises and M/s Ashraf Traders petitioned against the Valuation Ruling No 737/2015 under which the customs authorities are determining the value of toilet soaps.
They named the Revenue Division secretary, Customs Appraisement-East collector and Customs Valuation director general as respondents.
In the petition, they submitted that they imported various consignments of toilet soaps, declaring them as per their transaction value.
However, they complained that the customs authorities were assessing the value of their goods on the basis of Valuation Ruling No 737/2015, which was much higher than the given prices of the goods in the market.
They said that they submitted applications to the Valuation DG seeking review of the value of toilet soaps but they were pending disposal and goods were being assessed on the above-mentioned ruling unlawfully.
They pleaded the court to order the customs authorities to issue fresh ruling for assessing the value of toilet soaps and determine the value of their goods as their market price. The court was also requested to order provisional release of their consignments.
