LAHORE: The Customs Appellate Tribunal has dismissed an appeal in an impounded bus case filed by one Baram Khan, a resident of Peshawar, against the Collector of Customs (Appeals), Deputy Collector of Customs (Adjudication), and others.
The staff of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation-FBR Lahore intercepted the bus. On cursory inspection, a big quantity of foreign origin goods was found in the rare portion of the bus. On demand, the driver failed to provide any legal proofs of the possession of recovered items. So goods were confiscated under Section 168 (1) of the Customs Act-1969.
After a show cause notice issued to the appellant for contravention of provision of law, the adjudication proceeding was culminated and Order-in-Original passed that the bus is released to a lawful owner on the payment of 20 percent Redemption Fine equal to customs value.
Being aggrieved from the order, appellant filed the appeal before the Customs Appellate Tribunal order passed in arbitrary manners therefore it is void and liable to be set aside on the score value.
The imposition of Redemption Fine on the bus in question on the allegation of smuggling is against the facts of the case. On the other side, respondent denied the allegation and appealed for the rejection of the case.
After hearing arguments from appellant and respondent, Omer Arshed Hakeem, Member Judicial Bench-II, has passed the judgment with the remarks that the Adjudication Officer’s order is already quite lenient with the appellant. The tribunal does not find anything wrong in the imposition of 20 percent Redemption Fine on the impugned passenger vehicle, so appeal has been dismissed.
