PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday directed Peshawar’s customs collector to respond to a petition against the shifting of the Peshawar Dry Port to Azakhel area in Nowshera district.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali issued the order after holding preliminary hearing into the petition of Khyal Hussain and 10 other customs clearing agents, who requested the court to declare illegal and unconstitutional the Dec 16 notification of the Peshawar customs collector for the shifting of Peshawar Dry Port to Azakhel area.

The respondents in the petition are the federal government through secretary of the cabinet division, FBR chairman, Peshawar customs collector, and federal commerce and railways secretaries.

Amjad Hussain Tanoli, lawyer for the petitioners, contended that the Peshawar Dry Port was established in 1986 in order to facilitate importers and exporters and play a role in achieving the revenue targets set annually by the government.

PHC seeks reply of customs collector to clearing agents’ plea

He said that the customs collector issued the impugned order without any legal and moral justification and without considering its merits and de-merits.

The counsel said that there were security issues at the Azakhel Dry Port.

He added that multiple banks had been operating at the Peshawar Dry Port but that facility was not available in Azakhel.

The lawyer contended that under Section 9 of the Customs Act, 1969, there was a mechanism for the establishment of the dry port and only the FBR was empowered to declare a place the dry port through a notification in the official gazette.

He claimed that the customs collector despite not having the authority issued the impugned notification through which the dry port was shifted from Peshawar to Azakhel.

The lawyer said that the customs collector was requested by his clients to withdraw his dry port relocation order, but to no avail.

He added that the petitioners had also filed an appeal with the relevant authorities as an alternate remedy but they didn’t get any relief prompting them to invoke the constitutional jurisdiction of the high court on the matter.

The lawyer questioned how the dry port could be shifted from the provincial capital to another district.

He claimed that there were more than 600 customs clearing agents but appropriate facilities were not available at the Azakhel Dry Port.

Lawyer Abbas Khan Sangeen appeared for the customs department and contended that there were multiple problems at the Peshawar Dry Port, especially the shortage of space.

He pointed out that as there was insufficient space available for containers at that dry port, they’d to be parked on the roadside.

He added that the dry port was situated in a congested area.

The lawyer contended that the National Assembly had also passed a resolution asking the authorities to make the Azakhel Dry Port functional.

He added that different chambers of commerce and industry had also favoured the establishment of a dry port in Azakhel.

The counsel said that the provincial police officer had promised proper security measures at the Azakhel Dry Port.

He added that Azakhel Dry Port had state-of-the-art infrastructure to meet the needs of goods importers and exporters.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2021