Transportation of goods: Tribunal rejects customs’ objection regarding change of vehicle

LAHORE: A tribunal has rejected customs objection regarding change of vehicle for transportation of imported goods as no such rules were mentioned in the show-cause notice which obligates the importer to retain the same vehicle for transportation purposes.

According to details, a Collectorate of Customs had intercepted a vehicle/truck for scrutiny purposes. Driver of the said vehicle produced Goods Declaration (GD) however, it was not accepted on the ground of mis-declaration and discrepancies between the goods mentioned in the GD and the goods loaded in the vehicle. After the issuance of notice in accordance with law, the matter was adjudicated by the department.

The Collector of Customs (Adjudication) confiscated the goods outright in favour of the state. However, the vehicle and the container were given to the lawful claimant/owner of the seized vehicle to redeem the same against payment of redemption fine.

The importer challenged the order in the appellate tribunal and contended that goods were lawfully imported after making due taxes of the same through GD and got the goods clearance from the concerned clearance collectorate on the basis of valid documentation.

However, the seizing authority illegally and unlawfully deprived him from his lawful trade and seized the goods along with the vehicle. He further contended that there was no justification for the customs authorities even to keep the goods and vehicle for a while and the GD was rejected on unreasonable grounds without making verification from the concerned authority.

The appellate tribunal took into consideration of this material aspect of the matter and decided in favour of the importer, saying that the relevant customs authority rejected the plea of the importer that GD did not match with the seized truck. It pointed out that the said belief of the seizing authority was based on assumption as no reference of any other admissible document was given in this respect.

The tribunal also noted that the seizing authority had objected regarding the vehicle with different number used for transportation of goods against the one brought the vehicle within the country. The tribunal pointed that the department was unable to show if there is any restriction on changing the conveyance/vehicle.

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