KARACHI: The Model Custom Collectorate of Port Muhammad Bin Qasim asked an importer Horizon Enterprises to pay for shifting of a consignment of disputed fabric.
The Customs collectorate wrote a letter to the lawyer belonging to Franklin Law Associates, a legal firm representing the importer who imported printed fabric from China. Pakistan Custom officials confiscated the same on ground that consignment originating from Dubai free port was not of Chinese origin but made in India and hence falls in the ambit of banned items.
The controversy was initially settled by the High Court of Sindh which allowed release of the consignment. The order of the SHC was assailed before Supreme Court of Pakistan by Pakistan Customs. The apex court remanded the case back to the SHC while ordering shifting of the consignment to CPF bond to save the petitioner/importer of port and other charges.
A division bench of SHC ordered the Customs to comply with the order but it was delayed. Now the custom authorities through their letter dated 22-6-2017 asked the importer to pay for the expenses of shifting the consignment. Meanwhile the terminal operator was also asked to make arrangements for facilitating the shifting.
