KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has rejected another petition of a pharmaceutical company against the Pakistan Customs authorities for denying it the benefit under SRO 575(1)2006, reducing customs duty and other taxes on import of machinery.
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed the division bench, dismissed the petition filed by SAMI Pharmaceuticals (Private) Limited. The petitioner firm’s advocate submitted that the company imported Air Handling Units and claimed benefit under SRO 575(1)2006, contending that the imported machinery was not manufactured locally. However, he said, his plea for the benefit was declined on the ground that the Air Handling Units imported by the petitioner were being manufactured locally.
In response to the petition, the counsel for Pakistan Customs submitted that earlier the pharmaceutical companies availed such benefit when these units were not manufactured locally. However, they are manufactured now and therefore, the petitioner was not entitled to such benefit.
Earlier, the SHC dismissed the petition of M/s Novartis Pharma (Private) Limited through which it sought the benefit under the above-mentioned SRO.