Nato smuggling case: SC orders arrest of container owners
Pakistan
Nato smuggling case: SC orders arrest of container owners
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered arrest of the containers owners allegedly involved in contraband smuggling in Nato tankers and asked the Custom officials to produce one-year record of goods duty evasion. The CJ directed Dr Moeed Pirzada, Director World Affairs Programme of Dunya News, to assist the court in this regard. The court directed Dunya News to produce the CD of the programme Dunya Today in which the smuggling scam has been unearthed. A three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani were hearing a suo motu notice on disappearance of goods from the Nato containers. According to reports, goods are routinely pilfered and sometimes an entire convoy of containers goes missing during transit through Pakistan. The CJ lamented that despite a big network of police and Customs, smuggling is being carried out. He said an independent institution should probe the case. The CJ deplored that tax money of Rs550billion is being evaded in the country and added that in presence of an upright Customs department not even a single ballpoint could be smuggled. He observed that it seemed as if FBR collects tax from salaried people of the society. It is mention worthy that about 10,000 to 11,000 containers worth Rs220 billion with prohibited and non-prohibited luggage for Nato forces reportedly did not reach Afghanistan during the past couple of years because of corruption in the customs department, causing huge revenue losses to the national kitty. The issue cropped up during proceedings relating to seizure of a large quantity of liquor worth Rs80 million found in a container of Isaf contractor, Luner Products Company based in Afghanistan.
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