LAHORE: Negligence on the part of Customs staff towards the smuggled goods lead to revenue loss to the national exchequer, said sources.

The department not only failed to challenge the genuineness of the Goods Declaration (GD) but also no examination report against physical examination was brought on record before the tribunal.

According to details, a Customs team stopped a truck during routine checking and found that the vehicle was loaded with Iranian Petroleum Bitumen in drums. On inquiry about legal import documents, the driver produced a GD. Meanwhile, the physical examination of goods revealed that the GD was different in description. The scrutiny of documents suggested that the snuggled goods were being transported under the garb of irrelevant GD.

The owner of the goods, on the other hand, agitated that he had purchased the goods from a whole sale dealer being freely available in the open market. He further mentioned that the goods seized are far away from the borders and freely available in the open market.

He maintained that the it is a settled principal that if the items alleged to be smuggled were freely available in the open market and the import of such goods were not banned in the country, presumption could arrive that the goods in question were lawfully brought in the country unless contrary was shown.

According to him, there was nothing on the record that the route used by him was a route other than notified and the seizing agency was unable to substantiate with any supporting documents to prove that the act of snuggling has taken place.

He further contended that neither examination of the seized goods is available on record nor any particulars of the seized goods have been provided in writing during examination.

He said the goods which were stated to be smuggled goods by the department are easily and readily available in the local market. He also produced a commercial invoice of the goods.

The relevant forum held that the owner has proved its stance to the hilt, therefore, the department’s action is illegal and unwarranted on the basis of facts and circumstances of the case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024