KARACHI: Lawyers representing clients before the Customs Appellate Tribunal seem unhappy with the working of the tribunal.
Talking to Customs Today, a lawyer, seeking anonymity, said that he is fed up with the situation and has decided not to appear before the tribunal once his two final cases are decided.
He said that the tribunal’s three benches start hearing the cases during late hours and there was no surety that the cases would be fixed for hearing. There was no administration period, he alleged.
In addition, he said, the orders were reserved but remained unannounced for weeks and at times even for months. The delayed announcements were causing great inconvenience to the litigants, he added.
Recently, a new trend of in-chamber hearings seemed to be developing at the tribunal. Asked that ‘in-chamber hearings’ were a routine with the judiciary, he said that they were a routine, but not during regular hearings. “Here the in-chamber hearings are becoming a routine during the time of regular hearing.”
When Customs Today visited the tribunal last week no daily show cause lists were displayed at Bench I and II. A wire-mesh was installed to display the cause list when Customs Today brought this to the notice of an assistant registrar.
“It is becoming harder and harder to make representations and I have decided to quit my legal practice at the tribunal once the last two cases that I am arguing get disposed off,” the lawyer added.
