KARACHI: Hayatullah, proprietor of M/s Hamdan Trading approached the Customs Court and moved petition under section 265-K CR.PC for acquittal, who is nominated in a case of violating the import policy and imported restricted goods comprising, used auto parts, EDU toilet perfume, used 3,4 cylinders petrol/ diesel engine etc.
On 13 April 2020, counsel for the applicant argued that applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case and now matter has been investigated scrutinized and well analyzed by the prosecution by nothing has been surfaced against the present applicant.
Further argued that in the same case other applicant has been acquitted by this court in shape of allowing application under section 265-K, therefore, court may pleaded for acquittal and discharge of the said charged under section 265-K.
According to the prosecution, investigation officer of Customs Appraisement West submitted interim charge sheet and informed the court that on an actionable information the consignment of above the mentioned importer was kept under vigilance, since neither any goods declaration was filed nor the container moved to dry port, therefore, examination was conducted by customs officials.
He submitted that during the examination, customs officials found old and 13 used Suzuki pick up vehicles having engine capacity 660CC in dismantled condition, IO Japan. 66 used 3,4 cylinders petrol/ diesel engine with and without gear box.
Used auto parts comprising self starter, alternator, shock absorbers and arms instead of declared only used auto parts. 2351.16 kg EDU toilet perfume and body spray of various brand and origin total valuing of Rs18.53 million approximately.
Investigation officer stated that the presence of goods not importable/ banned under the law of land in such a huge quantity creates question on the intention of the people involved in the import, subsequently, en-route replacement/ pilferage of consignments is a known phenomenon and there are a number of prosecution cases filed regarding en-route replacement/ pilferage of transshipment goods. Considering the nature of the goods found in the consignment, it is evident that the presence of banned, high value and restricted items leads to a strong indication on part of the persons involved in importing the goods, so there is a strong ground to believe that the intentions of the people involved were to replace the goods en-route to its destination i-e Islamabad.