KARACHI: A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC), headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, has directed the tax authorities to file their respective comments on a constitutional petition filed by M/S Farooq Corporation. The company is allegedly involved in a case of mis-declaration as well as duty and tax evasion of Rs 992,340.
During the hearing, Kashif Ahmed Abbasi Advocate filed papers on behalf of the collector Customs Appraisement West and Masooda Siraj Advocate filed her credentials on behalf of the directorate general of Intelligence and Investigation (customs enforcement) regional office Karachi. Both the advocates sought time to submit para-wise comments, therefore, the court granted time and adjourned the hearing for December 29, 2016.
Earlier, counsel for the petitioner stated that being active importer, the company imported a consignment containing baby trike parts bearing HS Code 9503.0010 from China and filed goods declaration on December 10, 2016 on the basis of import documents declaring the goods at $0.90/kg having total quantity of 4,590/kg (net weight ), which was selected for examination.
According to the petitioner, after examination, the customs authorities alleged mis-declaration of description of the consignment relates to baby tricycle battery operated (ride on) instead of baby trike parts, hence, the officers concerned discarded the value declared by the petitioner. The officials assessed the goods on the basis of valuation ruling no 871/2016 issued on June 20, 2016, according to which the goods are to be assessed at the rate of $4/kg.
The counsel argued that the difference between the declared description of the items and alleged description is that the declared description only relates to some parts of baby tricycle (such as battery, tiers, handle etc), whereas, baby tricycle battery operated (ride on ) relates to the complete parts of tricycle in unassembled from. It is submitted that there is no charge of mis-declaration of net weight or mis-declaration of PCT Heading.
Citing Sectary Revenue Division, the Collector of Custom Appraisement West Model Custom Collectorate of Custom and the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Custom Enforcement) Regional Office Karachi as respondents, the petitioner pleaded that the court may direct the respondents to release the consignment of the petitioner on the bank guarantee immediately.
