ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), while canceling an illegal auction of an imported vehicle, reprimanded the Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi, which miserably failed to protect the rights of citizens under the Constitution. In this regard, the FTO has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to cancel an illegal auction of an imported vehicle by Customs Karachi and hand it over to the actual importer due to mal-administration committed by Customs officials of the Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi. The FTO’s order revealed that Ministry of Commerce was issuing condonation letter to the importer, but relevant Customs officials, deliberately auctioned the vehicle in haste without realising the genuine hardship of the importer. According to the directive of the FTO to the FBR, the Collector, Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi would cancel the subject auction proceedings, recover the vehicle and hand it over to the complainant, in terms of the Ministry of Commerce’s Import Authorization. Details of the case revealed that the complaint was filed against the Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West), Karachi, under Section 10(1) of the Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000 (FTO Ordinance) regarding cancellation of auction and recovery of vehicle. The complainant imported used vehicle was handed over to shipping line in last week of December in Japan but due to unforeseen technical reasons, the vessel’s departure was delayed and arrived on Feb 15, 2024, which constitute minor deviation from condition as specified…