IHC moved against bail of DG Redco in Qatari luxury vehicles case
Customs officials requested the court to grant physical remand of Irfan Siddiqui.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Customs Intelligence officials Tuesday filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking cancellation of the bail of Redco General Manager Irfan Siddiqui.
The special judge of Customs and Taxation Court had granted bail to Siddiqui, who was arrested while serving as the director general of Redco Textile Mills from where several Qatari luxury vehicles were recovered, against surety bonds of one lakh rupees.
The petition requested the court to cancel his bail as well as grant physical remand to the Customs officials as part of their investigation into the case of illegal luxury vehicles.
Customs Intelligence officials on Monday recovered three more Qatari luxury vehicles from a farmhouse belonging to former senator Saifur Rehman, a close aide of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The recovered vehicles were brought to the country under diplomatic immunity, officials said as they relocated the vehicles to Customs headquarters.
As many as 26 Qatari luxury vehicles have been recovered till date. The director general of Customs Intelligence has also ordered officials concerned in the four provinces, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan to take unauthorised vehicles into custody.
Billions waived in import duty
Officials had revealed that at least Rs4.5 billion in import duty on luxury vehicles recovered from compunds in Rawalpindi and Islamabad were waived from 2012 to 2018.
As many as 330 luxury cars were illegally imported over a period of six years out of which 233 were brought to Pakistan at the behest of of Jassim family.
As per details, sixty one cars were shown in papers under the ownership of Hamad bin Jassim, his son Tamim bin Hamad (72), grandson Faisal bin Hamad (24), and brother Shaikh Falah bin Jassim (101).
Vehicles under illegal use
Sources in the Foreign Office said the luxury vehicles were under illegal use as Pakistani citizens are not allowed to use cars imported through diplomatic channels.
The luxury vehicles were only to be used by the Qatari ruling family or in projects initiated by the Qatari government in Pakistan, they added.
Clarification
The Qatari embassy issued a clarification pertaining to the recovery of 21 luxury vehicles from the compound of a textile mill owned by Saifur Rehman.
In his letter, Qatari Ambassador Saqr Bin Mubarak Al Mansouri said the luxury vehicles were legally brought to Pakistan and were then to be used for hunting purposes.
The cars belong to the Qatari ruling family and had been parked in the properties owned by Rehman in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, he added.
Customs officials, however, said the embassy did not disclose ownership of the vehicles in its letter to the Pakistani authorities. They added that the cars were illegally parked as the authorities did not find any import document.
Non-custom paid luxury vehicles recovered
Authorities had recovered the vehicles from inside a deserted building of Redco Textile Mills situated in Callar Syedan area of Rawalpindi. Saifur Rehman, a close aide of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, owns the textile mills.
According to Customs Intelligence officials, more than 40 luxury vehicles were parked in the textile mills building out of which 20 were shifted to some other place before the operation.
They informed that all the vehicles had the number plates of the Qatari embassy. Sources further informed that the operation was conducted on the orders of DG Customs Intelligence Shaukat Ali.
The Foreign Office and interior ministry have also been directed to apprehend all the suspects involved in the clearance of luxury vehicles in 2012.
