ISLAMABAD: The Customs Appellate Tribunal has announced decisions on 85 pending appeals pertaining to Gilgit-Baltistan, completing hearings in a record two weeks.
A two-member bench comprising Chairman Hafiz Ansar-ul-Haq and Member Technical Abdul Waheed Marwat heard the cases, which involved disputes over customs valuation, classification, and import irregularities.
In its verdict, the Tribunal directed Customs authorities to re-examine the goods and conduct a fair assessment in the presence of the appellants’ representatives. It ruled that the goods may be released after payment of applicable duties and taxes, while items violating the current import policy shall remain confiscated.
The Tribunal also set aside all penalties and punishments previously imposed on the appellants, noting that the alleged misdeclaration of imported goods had not been conclusively proven.
According to the judgment, the consignments were imported through the Sust Dry Port in Gilgit-Baltistan, and Customs officials had claimed discrepancies in descriptions and quantities of goods, estimating duty and tax evasion exceeding Rs192 million. The Collector of Customs had earlier ordered confiscation of the goods and imposed a 20 per cent penalty, which the appellants challenged before the Tribunal.
The Tribunal observed that since the goods remain under customs custody and no conclusive evidence of tax evasion has been established, the matter warrants a re-inspection under 100 per cent customs supervision.
The total value of the 85 appeals decided exceeds Rs13 billion, while the Customs Appellate Tribunal has, over the past 14 months, disposed of cases involving claims and disputes worth more than Rs1.09 trillion.
