KARACHI: A trader is still hoping to get justice for having a tea consignment seized by the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation during a raid in Karachi four-and-half years ago.
According to the appellant’s counsel Ch Muhammad Rafiq, who pleaded the case before the Customs Appellate Tribunal counsel for the umpteenth time here, the I&I seized 150 gunny sacks of tea over four-and-half years ago during a raid in 2010. No show-cause notice was issued after the seizure of the goods despite the fact that issuing the notice was time-barred. And when the show-cause notice was finally issued the charge was changed from initial smuggling to unlawful import, he added.
“My client is now only interested in knowing just what have had happened to his confiscated consignment of tea which he had bought openly from a local market in Quetta, got it packed and brought it to Karachi. The Customs I&I had seized the goods citing smuggling as the initial charge but in the show cause notice issued after the passage of months the reason for confiscation was changed to unlawful import.”
