KARACHI: M/s Chief Enterprises approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) seeking immediate refund of the amount collected by the customs officials from the petitioner in the name of regulatory duty under Section 18 (3) of the Customs Act, 1969, as it stood till the date of commencement of the Finance Act, 2018.
On August 4, 2018, counsel for the petitioner argued in his petition that petitioner is engaged in import of different items, through their professional excellence, hard work and dedicated customer services, the petitioner has developed substantial clientele all over the country.
Counsel argued that the petitioner being commonly aggrieved by the arbitrary, illegal and mala fide actions of the respondents in particular the purported protection afforded to illegally levied regulatory duty by the Finance Act 2018, have filed the title petition jointly through an authorized attorney.
He stated that under Section 18 (3) no regulatory duty could be imposed save under a notification issued by the federal government after approval by the federal cabinet, needless to add that such notification could only be prospective no such notification exists in fact and in law for the period starting from the date of commencement of the finance act, 2017 till the date of commencement of theSindh High Court (SHC)
Citing Secretary Ministry of Finance, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, Collector of Customs Appraisement East and others as respondents, he pleaded the court to declare that no regulatory duty was or could be levied, charged or collected on imports under the Customs Act 1969 nor any validation thereof is constitutionally permissible during the period starting from the date of commencement of the Finance Act, 2017 till the date of commencement of the Finance Act, 2018.
Counsel further pleaded the court to direct them to immediately return the security or refund amount equivalent thereof along with mark-up collected by them from the petitioner under the order passed by this court in the earlier round of litigation challenging the levy and collection of the regulatory duty under SRO 1035(1)/2017 or otherwise.
