Contempt of court: IHC issues show-cause notices to senior customs officials

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued show-cause notices for contempt of court to senior customs officials after it was revealed that a luxury vehicle seized from a citizen was being used by a top tax official in Karachi.

A two-member bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan, expressed annoyance upon discovering that a seized Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, which customs officials had claimed was handed over to the Archeology Department in Peshawar for a token sum of Rs100,000, was instead found in the possession of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Sardar Taimur Khan Durrani.

During the hearing, it was also revealed that the vehicle was presented before the court with a fake number plate. The original plate had been removed and replaced with one registered to a Suzuki Alto in Karachi.

“Shame on you, officers. Take responsibility. You are pushing driver under the bus?” Justice Sattar remarked when the Customs Collector asserted that the driver changed the number plate of the vehicle.

The judge grilled Collector Customs Rizwan Salabat, who attempted to deflect blame onto drivers, stating that putting on a different number plate was a “routine task” for bringing a vehicle into the Red Zone.

“What are you saying? One driver took off the plate, another put it on? You are a collector, you are responsible,” Justice Sattar said and added, “You have neither legal sense nor the moral courage to speak the truth. There will be consequences.”

The court questioned under which law the officials had authorized the use of a fake number plate and suggested that such an act was grounds for jail time. “If an officer comes to the court and lies, then what option is left other than contempt of court?” Justice Sattar observed, clarifying that the purpose of contempt proceedings was to enforce orders, not merely to punish.

In its orders, the IHC bench issued show-cause notices for contempt to Collector Customs Rizwan Salabat and Member Legal Customs and summoned Commissioner Inland Revenue Sardar Taimur Durrani and the Director General of the Archeology Department Peshawar to appear in person on November 10.

It also ordered the DG Archeology and Member Customs Operations to submit detailed inquiry reports, with affidavits, explaining how the vehicle was transferred from the department to the FBR official and who authorized the removal of the original number plate.

Later, the bench deferred hearing of the case until November 10.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025