PESHAWAR: The KPK Tax Bar Association member Jaffar Ali Qazi has said that Federal Board of Revenue needed to give relief to importers despite frustrating them for asking extra checking of their consignments at pickets by Customs Intelligence staff.
Advocate Jaffar Ali Qazi who deals customs consultancy and tax related matters at Peshawar said this during a special talk with Customs Today at Peshawar.
Qazi said that if there has been no financial charge or any other type of levy imposed upon importers then FBR officials don’t have such power to ask for checking of consignments already cleared by customs staff at ports.
When advocate Jaffar Ali Qazi was asked about the Customs I&I field staff for carrying out checking of already sealed containers, he said that FBR has issued full domains of officers in which it has been clearly stated that no effort will be done to ask for checking of vehicles on road towards destination whose checking had already been done.
The advocate further said that Peshawar High Court has often asked the FBR officials upon seizing of vehicles loaded with goods of Peshawar Dry Port and strict orders were issued and hard judgments were passed to hand over the vehicle and goods.
In another case an importer went to Peshawar High Court against FBR for asking for seized goods which had been brought from Karachi to Peshawar Dry Port and seized at Kohat Customs check post, the respectable court had passed orders and the goods were then handed over to the corresponding importer.
The Customs I&I doesn’t hold the powers to ask for checking of already checked consignments according to Article 25 and 32 of Customs Acts 1969 and respectable courts have several times passed the judgments upon cases of similar nature.
The duty of Customs I&I is to curb smuggling and carry out anti-smuggling campaigns rather than to tease importers who suffer on their way to reach the final destination.
