Confiscation of Qatari vehicles embarrasses govt

Sources say action was an official’s bid to gain PTI govt’s sympathies

LAHORE: The Customs Intelligence confiscated vehicles of Qatari rulers that were exempted from duty, putting the government to embarrassment.

According to sources, the initial investigations by the Federal Board of Revenue showed that the vehicles were brought in Pakistan in accordance with the rules and regulations.

The vehicles were not sold to anyone and there were no instructions that they could be parked only in any specific location. In a report by DG Customs Intelligence Shaukat Ali, sources said that he authored a specific paragraph against members of the Qatari royal family to gain sympathies of the PTI government.



The DG mentions the Qatari ruler Hammad bin Jasem as the person who has been mentioned in the “Panama case”.

According to federal government sources, the DG is expected to be removed from his office. Sources in the federal government and FBR told the Express News that there has been no violation of SRO found in the investigations so far about the vehicles brought in the name of Qatari prince Hammad bin Jasem.

According to FBR sources, the government has issued two orders about the customs duty-free vehicles. There is an SRO number 9902 for the import of dutyfree vehicles available to diplomats appointed in
Pakistan while for royal families of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain there is another number which is 9905. Customs use both the SROs under the NOC of the foreign office department.

Most of the vehicles brought for diplomats to Pakistan are under 9902 and these are in their hundreds. In this case, the DG Customs Intelligence took targeted action against the vehicles brought in the name of Qatari Prince Hammad bin Jassem without completely investigating the situation.

DG Shaukat Ali authored  a paragraph in the report which was against the norms of the department because it is being considered political discussion. He wrote, “These vehicles are imported in the name of Qatari Prince Hammad ben Jassem and it may be recalled that this is the same infamous Qatari prince who has been mentioned in the Panama case.”

According to FBR sources, the investigations so far have revealed that the vehicles were imported under SRO 9902 and 9905 and the Customs had allowed importing these vehicles with the permission of foreign ministry.