Collector of Customs through Additional Collector Custom, MCC Gwadar, Gaddani V. Messrs BYCO Petroleum Pakistan Ltd. and others,
PTD 2019 110 · Balochistan High Court
This case is about whether import duties and taxes could be demanded on tug boats that a company had brought into Pakistan only temporarily, to help offload oil tankers, with a promise to re-export them later.
The company had imported three tug boats and given bank guarantees, declaring clearly that these were temporary imports meant for re-export, as allowed under the Import Policy Order, 2013. Customs authorities later issued show-cause notices accusing the company of violating provisions of the Customs Act by allegedly making false statements and evading duties, treating the import as a permanent, taxable one.
The Collector of Customs (Adjudication) withdrew the show-cause notice, finding it lacked jurisdiction, and the Customs Appellate Tribunal upheld that decision. Customs then approached the Balochistan High Court.
The High Court dismissed the customs department's reference. It held that the show-cause notices were defective because they did not contain specific allegations of false statements, which is required under Section 32(3) of the Customs Act. It also found that since the goods declarations clearly showed the tugs were imported temporarily for re-export, and proper bank guarantees were furnished, this was not an ordinary import attracting full duties. If customs disputed the exemption, it should have used the specific remedy under the relevant SRO rather than issuing show-cause notices.
The ruling matters because it reinforces that legal procedures must be followed exactly as prescribed, and that goods imported temporarily for re-export, with proper guarantees, cannot be taxed as permanent imports.
یہ مقدمہ اس سوال سے متعلق ہے کہ کیا ان ٹگ بوٹس پر درآمدی ڈیوٹی اور ٹیکس عائد کیے جا سکتے ہیں جنہیں ایک کمپنی نے صرف عارضی طور پر پاکستان لایا تھا تاکہ آئل ٹینکرز سے تیل اتارنے میں مدد مل سکے، اور جن کے بارے میں یہ وعدہ کیا گیا تھا کہ انہیں بعد میں دوبارہ برآمد کر دیا جائے گا۔
کمپنی نے تین ٹگ بوٹس درآمد کی تھیں اور بینک گارنٹیاں فراہم کی تھیں، جن میں واضح طور پر یہ اعلان کیا گیا تھا کہ یہ عارضی درآمد ہے جو دوبارہ برآمد کے لیے ہے، جیسا کہ امپورٹ پالیسی آرڈر 2013 کے تحت اجازت دی گئی تھی۔ بعد میں کسٹمز حکام نے شوکاز نوٹسز جاری کیے جن میں کمپنی پر الزام لگایا گیا کہ اس نے کسٹمز ایکٹ کی دفعات کی خلاف ورزی کی، جھوٹے بیانات دیے اور ڈیوٹی چوری کی، اور اس درآمد کو مستقل اور قابلِ ٹیکس درآمد قرار دیا۔
کلکٹر آف کسٹمز (ایڈجوڈ