SHC Rejects SCRA Filed by Customs Department in Time-Barred SCN Case
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed a Special Customs Reference Application No. 304 of 2013 filed by the Collector of Customs against Al-Waleed PVC Plastic & Metal Industries.
The case was about an appeal against an order passed by the Customs Appellate Tribunal on July 8, 2013, in Customs Appeal No. K-513 of 2011. The tribunal had ruled that a Show Cause Notice (SCN), issued after the time limit set by Section 168(2) of the Customs Act 1969, had no legal standing.
This was a case of goods being confiscated by the DIT on July 5, 2010. The goods were confiscated subsequent, to the processing and release of the associated GD but no SCN was issued within the stipulated period.
At the time of hearing it was noted that there was no reasoning or rationale given by the Tribunal for arriving at the impugned decision. Instead, the Tribunal had relied on an earlier judgment provided by the SHC in the case of “Muhammad Razi”. It had held not to interfere with the order passed by the Collector of Customs (Appeals).
One of the advocates, Ms. Afsheen Aman, who represented the DIT, relied on a case named “Mazhar ul Islam”. This case was also of a similar kind and had been decided by a different division of SHC.
Agreeing with the arguments of the parties, the custom. appellate bench restated the legal question and then dismissed the SCRA filed by Customs. Department.
This judgment has highlighted the compliance of time limits as stipulated in the Customs Act of 1969 for Show Cause Notices.
