LAHORE: The Customs Appellate Tribunal ordered the release of impugned electric power generating unit to its lawful owner unconditionally in case of Abdul Malik, a resident of Balochistan, against Superintendent Customs Anti-Smuggling Organization Jhang and Additional Collector of Customs Faisalabad.
Member Judicial Bench-II Omer Arshed Hakeem declared in the judgment that the respondent department failed to discharge the legal burden which lay heavily on it. Resultantly, Customs Appellate Tribunal set aside the impugned order and ordered the release of impugned electric power generating unit carrying an output capacity of 135 KVA unconditionally to its lawful owner.
According to the precise facts of the case, the staff of the ASO Jhang intercepted a truck loaded with a foreign origin generator. On demand, the driver produced the bilty and failed to produce documents regarding the lawful import. After the examination, customs authorities declared that appellant violated Section 16 and 18 of the Customs Act-1969, Sales Tax Act-1990 and Customs Tax Ordinance-2001.
After a show cause notice, the adjudication authority passed the Order-in-Original against the appellant and ordered to pay the taxes and duties.
Appellant aggrieved from the order and challenged the order-in-original before the Customs Appellate Tribunal on the grounds that the order-in-original is not correct in the eye of law. The generated is legally imported and there is no any violation of law. On the other side, the recipient denied all the allegations by the appellant.
After hearing of arguments from both sides, Customs Appellate Tribunal set aside the order passed by the adjudication authority. Member Tribunal declared that the recipient failed to satisfy the tribunal regarding the seizing generator, so the appeal is accepted.
