MULTAN: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), bench headed by Justice Babar Sattar, has disposed of a writ petition filed by Imran Ali, who sought enforcement of an order from the Customs Appellate Tribunal.
At the onset of the proceedings, Touqeer Akram Advocate, representing the petitioner, informed the court that the Customs Appellate Tribunal’s order had been complied with following a hearing on February 26, 2024.
During that hearing, the Member Customs reported that he had reviewed several unimplemented Tribunal orders and found many without corresponding stay orders.
The Member Customs assured the court he would issue written instructions to all field officers to file references within the prescribed limitation period and to secure stay orders where necessary. In the absence of stay orders, the Tribunal’s decisions would be implemented.
The bench acknowledged this commitment from the Member Customs of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and reiterated that Tribunal orders are binding on both private parties and public officials unless a High Court suspends them.
“The orders of the tribunal are binding on Customs Officials who cannot choose to sit in judgment over such orders or defy them on the basis that the Customs Authorities intend to file a reference and expect that a stay order will be issued by the High Court in such reference. The Court hopes that the widespread practice of refusing to abide by the orders of the Tribunal will come to an end once appropriate instructions are issued by the FBR to the field officers as undertaken by the Member Customs,” the bench stated.
With the compliance now ensured, the court ruled that the petition had served its purpose and subsequently disposed of it.
