Registration ruckus
Appellate court disagrees with G-B council’s stance on NCP vehicle registration revenue.
GILGIT:
Gilgit-Baltistan’s Supreme Appellate Court (SAC) asked the relevant departments to take necessary measures for streamlining the registration of non-customs paid (NCP) vehicles in the region.
SAC Chief Judge Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi was heading the three member full bench that heard the petition on Wednesday. Justice Abbasi said the customs issue of NCP vehicles should be taken up by the customs department so that thousands of NCP vehicles could come in the net.
Advocate Amjad Hussain argued that following the Self-Governance Order 2009, the issue of customs falls under the G-B Council and that the directives of the council should be followed, adding that 80 per cent of customs revenue should therefore also go to the council. However, the court disagreed, and maintained that the issue should be dealt with under the existing laws of the customs department.
According to an estimate, more than 10,000 vehicles in Gilgit-Baltistan fall in the NCP category. Recently, the G-B excise and taxation department computerised the data of some vehicles and presented it to the customs department for further action.
Meanwhile, the entry of NCP vehicles in G-B is also banned and the government recently said that no more NCP vehicles would be registered in G-B.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2011.
Gilgit-Baltistan’s Supreme Appellate Court (SAC) asked the relevant departments to take necessary measures for streamlining the registration of non-customs paid (NCP) vehicles in the region.
SAC Chief Judge Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi was heading the three member full bench that heard the petition on Wednesday. Justice Abbasi said the customs issue of NCP vehicles should be taken up by the customs department so that thousands of NCP vehicles could come in the net.
Advocate Amjad Hussain argued that following the Self-Governance Order 2009, the issue of customs falls under the G-B Council and that the directives of the council should be followed, adding that 80 per cent of customs revenue should therefore also go to the council. However, the court disagreed, and maintained that the issue should be dealt with under the existing laws of the customs department.
According to an estimate, more than 10,000 vehicles in Gilgit-Baltistan fall in the NCP category. Recently, the G-B excise and taxation department computerised the data of some vehicles and presented it to the customs department for further action.
Meanwhile, the entry of NCP vehicles in G-B is also banned and the government recently said that no more NCP vehicles would be registered in G-B.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2011.