Customs Dept seizes 816 MG SUV vehicle at Port

A custom appellate bench of SHC ordered provisional release of MG SUV vehicles against the payment of disputed amount of duty and taxes with Nazir of the court

KARACHI: The Customs authorities at Karachi port seized around 816 MG SUV vehicles following a dispute between Javed Afridi and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) over the tax issues & customs duties.

The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) had claimed that Morris Garages (MG) Motors is being importing vehicles in Pakistan through under-invoicing and the matter was sent to Post Clearance Audit department for further investigation.

Following the investigation, the port authorities are not clearing MG Motors for last one week and more than 816 MG SUV are parked at the Port, the port sources claimed.

A custom appellate bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) Friday ordered provisional release of MG SUV vehicles against the payment of disputed amount of duty and taxes with Nazir of the court.

The bench, earlier, heard a counsel from law firm Franklin Law Associates who stated that more than 800 vehicles are lying at the port waiting for clearance.

The importer has filed GD and there was dispute over valuation, the Franklin Law Associate counsel stated.

The counsel from Collectorate of Customs opposed the plea for release. The bench, however, after hearing the sides said in the circumstance of the case, the vehicles can be released as an interim relief. The bench asked the petitioner to secure the disputed amount of custom duty and taxes through pay order to be deposited with the Nazir of SHC.

The Nazir was directed to investigate the same in some other profitable entity. The Nazir was also directed to issue certificate of payment in each case. The Nazir was also granted a fee of Rs 5000 per case.

Javed Afridi owner of PSL team Peshawar Zalmi and Haier products had already imported 400 MG GS model complete built units (CBU) from Shanghai, China. Recently, the FBR had clarified that these vehicles imported in Pakistan through under-invoicing.

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