ISLAMABAD: A division bench of Customs Appellate Tribunal, headed by Chairman Justice (r) Manzoor Hussain adjourned hearing of a customs reference filed by Ayyan Ali on Wednesday.
Ayyan Ali’s counsel, Sardar Latif Khosa had filed the petition challenging decision of a Customs Court regarding confiscation of amount $500,000, seized while being smuggled by Ayyan Ali, and imposition of fine for trying to smuggle money out of Pakistan.
The bench heard the matter and adjourned for first week of January, 2017. Ayyan was arrested from Benazir Bhutto International Airport with $500,000 in March 2015. The Airport Security Force (ASF) intercepted her and recovered the said amount from her luggage. She was released on bail after four months in Adiala Jail.
Through the petition, Ayyan’s counsel challenged the said decision announced by a Rawalpindi Customs Court. The court had indicted Ayyan for trying to smuggle foreign currency out of the Pakistan.
The amount was confiscated by customs authorities and the customs adjudication found her guilty of currency smuggling. The Customs Court maintained departmental decision on confiscation of amount being tried to smuggle and also added fine of $500,000 (same amount seized while being smuggled) on Ayyan.
The Customs Tribunal had yet not decided the date to hear the case. Ayyan had filed the petition at tribunal after appointment of new Chairman Manzoor Hussain.
It is pertinent to mention that Ayyan had pleaded not guilty to the charges of money laundering at the lower court and defended against the case in which she has been purposefully implicated.
Customs Court Judge Rana Aftab Ahmed heard the case and had recorded several eye witnesses in the case. It is worth mentioning that custom officer Chaudhry Ijaz, one of the key witnesses in the case, was murdered. Ijaz was shot in the leg when two armed motorcyclists opened fire on him in the remits of Waris Khan Police Station.
Apex courts had also rejected her acquittal pleas in the money-laundering case however she was granted bail.
