IHC suspends FBR’s notice issued to Palestinian envoy

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Thursday the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)'s show cause notice issued to Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Ahmed Jawad Rabei by the customs department pertaining to the import of a duty-exempted luxury vehicle and its subsequent sale to a local businessman.

The hearing was presided over by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who further ordered the customs department's collector to return the confiscated vehicle, and not take any action against the Palestinian ambassador till further hearing.

Notices were also issued to the foreign secretary, FBR and customs collector, and the respondents were given two weeks to submit a reply.

The Palestinian envoy’s counsel Sikandar Naeem Qazi prayed upon the court that his client’s property has a special exemption under Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

“This show cause notice is a violation of the Vienna Convention,” lawyer Qazi said. “The action of the customs department should be declared illegal as the foreign secretary was not approached before the action was taken," he maintained.

On August 4, FBR issued a show-cause notice to Ambassador Rabei for importing a duty-exempted luxury vehicle and then selling it to a local businessman, Basil Ahmed Affendi.

The notice told the recipients - including Affendi - that the vehicle might be permanently confiscated and they might also face penalties of up to 10 times of the value of the vehicle, and that the breach also carried a punishment of up to three-year imprisonment.

However, after backlash on social media with many questioning the timing of the move and linking it with the recent UAE-Israel development, the FBR withdrew its notice issued to the ambassador and tendered an apology for the inconvenience caused to him.

“It was brought to the notice of FBR today that Collector of Custom (Adjudication) Islamabad has issued a show cause notice to an ambassador for violation of Custom Act, 1969,” stated a press release issued by the FBR on Monday night.

The FBR clarified that the issuance of the show cause notice was not in conformity with the privileges available to the diplomats under the Vienna Convention.

“Therefore, upon FBR's directions, the Islamabad Customs has modified the seizure report and the show cause notice is also being modified accordingly. The inconvenience caused to the worthy ambassador is regretted,” it added.

The FBR also used micro-blogging site Twitter to 'apologise' to the ambassador. However, the show-cause notice to the extent of Affendi would remain valid.