KARACHI: A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) has dismissed special customs reference applications filed by Director General Customs Valuation against M/s Carewell Traders and others for enhancement of valuation of imported consignment of importer.
On 30 March 2021, Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar heard the matter and after final arguments, court passed order and observed that “through these Reference Applications, the Applicant / Department has impugned a common judgment dated 13.02.2017 passed by the Customs Appellate Tribunal at Karachi in Customs Appeal Nos. K-2162/2016 and other connected matters by proposing various questions of law.
However, at the very outset, after going through the order of the Tribunal, we have confronted the learned Counsel for the Applicant as to how the Director General (Valuation) could enhance value of any item; or even add or determine value of a new item, while exercising Revision jurisdiction under Section 25-D of the Customs Act, 1969 while deciding a Revision filed by an aggrieved person against a Valuation Ruling issued in terms of s.25A ibid by the Director Valuation, as apparently the law in this regard is now settled by a Division Bench Judgment of this Court reported as Director General Customs Valuation v Al Amin Cera (2019 PTD 301) and she is not in a position to satisfactorily respond, except that these Reference Applications were filed earlier in time and the judgment was pronounced thereafter.
This on perusal of the record appears to be correct. The learned Division Bench had before it various questions; however, question No.2 therein is the crux of these Reference Applications i.e. (2) Whether a customs value determined in terms of section 25A can be enhanced by the Director General of Valuation under section 25D? and the Court had answered the same in negative against the Applicant department and in favor of the Importers / Respondents.
Page 2 of 2 In the circumstances, since the issue already stands decided as above, all these Reference Applications being misconceived are hereby dismissed for the reasons so assigned in the reported judgment as above.
Let copy of this order be sent to Appellate Tribunal Customs in terms of sub-section (5) of Section 196 of Customs Act, 1969. Office is directed to place copy of this order in connected Reference Applications as above”.
