Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 25A, 24A(4)

SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN (Appellate Jurisdiction)       JUDGMENT Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, J. Through these petitions, filed under Article 185(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, the petitioner seeks leave to appeal against the judgment dated 16.11.2022, passed by a learned Division Bench of the High Court of Sindh, Karachi, in Special Customs Reference Applications No.34 to 63/2020. The issue before us essentially concerns the continued operation of a Valuation Ruling issued under Section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969, (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) and the effect, if any, of the lapse of ninety days upon such operation. In the present case, the issue arises with reference to Valuation Ruling No. 874 of 2016 and the interpretation placed by the forums below on the period for which such ruling could remain operative. The Valuation Ruling No. 874 of 2016 in the present case has its own importance, as it was still a live valuation in terms of Section 25A(4) at the relevant time. The Tribunal and the High Court, in the reference jurisdiction, however, outscored it on account of a ninety-day life span notwithstanding, which of two jurisdictions it exercised. This life span of ninety days was taken into account by the Tribunal and the High Court below on account of the jurisprudence settled in Sadia Jabbar[1]. Sadia Jabbar’s case has its own frame and limitation, as it arose from imports and Valuation Rulings substantially pertaining to the period 2008–09, while Section 25A(4) was introduced subsequently through the Finance Act, 2010, and hence the interpretation provided therein has to be understood in that statutory and factual context. The two jurisdictions, i.e., the jurisdiction being exercised under Section 25A and the jurisdiction of an independent assessment under section 25 of the Act, irrespective of the Valuation Ruling, are two different and distinct jurisdictions, and one cannot visualise them to overlap each other. While passing the assessment order, indeed, the Valuation Ruling, unless otherwise challenged under the hierarchy, has its own force, which cannot be avoided on the…