ISLAMABAD: Three Customs collectors have been called up to answer for their role in the ISAF missing containers scandal before the chief investigator appointed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for initiating criminal proceedings.
Relinquishing charge of the Peshawar collector slot over the past four years, Nasir Khan, Rozi Khan Burki and Najeeb Abbasi have already been briefed about the charges they face if their involvement is proved.
They will be asked by chief investigator Hafiz Anees the following queries: Did they apply full checks on the clearance of Afghan Transit Trade containers; to do so, did they check the clearance papers (Afghan Transit Trade Invoice and Afghan border cross certificate) with the quantities, descriptions and numbers of containers; and, did they abide by the Customs Rule, 2002, mandating that clearance be conducted by checking up with the Afghan Customs authorities whether the Chaman-Torkhum border crossing containers were received with them with the same invoices, numbers, BCC, descriptions and quantities?
When Chairman FBR Salman Siddique was approached by The News to confirm whether his office had fulfilled his duties under the instructions by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whose suo moto notice of the scam initiated the entire inquiry, he said: “We submitted to the court that we are on the right track to nab the culprits and make recoveries of lost amounts which were due from the goods in the missing containers.”
When asked if his office was not defying the SC orders to send off-duty the staffs of all grades from Customs posts where they handled the missing containers, he said, “Let me check and come back to you”. He chose not to answer calls on his cellphone thereafter.
The News asked him whether over 500 deputy collectors and below officials were still working on the Amangarh, Peshawar Dryport and Torkhum checkposts even after their being listed as suspect and prevented from undertaking journey abroad without prior permission from the highest departmental authorities.
Chairman FBR also did not answer the question about the waywardness of the investigations conducted by the FBR chief investigator, who had hitherto failed to ask any of the suspect 600 Customs officials if they cleared the containers as per the law (checking quantities, descriptions, ATT Invoices and BCC).
Three collectors to be grilled toady at the FBR headquarters would be the first of the lot of 16 collectors who in the main handled the containers listed as missing ever since 2007. Authorities also told The News that suspect containers that returned ahead of 8-day scheduled delivery time (between Karachi-Torkhum and Karachi-Chaman) were still being spotted even after the chief justice took suo moto notice.
They said over 50 such containers had been listed in the previous two months (January-February) 2011. The News
Relinquishing charge of the Peshawar collector slot over the past four years, Nasir Khan, Rozi Khan Burki and Najeeb Abbasi have already been briefed about the charges they face if their involvement is proved.
They will be asked by chief investigator Hafiz Anees the following queries: Did they apply full checks on the clearance of Afghan Transit Trade containers; to do so, did they check the clearance papers (Afghan Transit Trade Invoice and Afghan border cross certificate) with the quantities, descriptions and numbers of containers; and, did they abide by the Customs Rule, 2002, mandating that clearance be conducted by checking up with the Afghan Customs authorities whether the Chaman-Torkhum border crossing containers were received with them with the same invoices, numbers, BCC, descriptions and quantities?
When Chairman FBR Salman Siddique was approached by The News to confirm whether his office had fulfilled his duties under the instructions by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whose suo moto notice of the scam initiated the entire inquiry, he said: “We submitted to the court that we are on the right track to nab the culprits and make recoveries of lost amounts which were due from the goods in the missing containers.”
When asked if his office was not defying the SC orders to send off-duty the staffs of all grades from Customs posts where they handled the missing containers, he said, “Let me check and come back to you”. He chose not to answer calls on his cellphone thereafter.
The News asked him whether over 500 deputy collectors and below officials were still working on the Amangarh, Peshawar Dryport and Torkhum checkposts even after their being listed as suspect and prevented from undertaking journey abroad without prior permission from the highest departmental authorities.
Chairman FBR also did not answer the question about the waywardness of the investigations conducted by the FBR chief investigator, who had hitherto failed to ask any of the suspect 600 Customs officials if they cleared the containers as per the law (checking quantities, descriptions, ATT Invoices and BCC).
Three collectors to be grilled toady at the FBR headquarters would be the first of the lot of 16 collectors who in the main handled the containers listed as missing ever since 2007. Authorities also told The News that suspect containers that returned ahead of 8-day scheduled delivery time (between Karachi-Torkhum and Karachi-Chaman) were still being spotted even after the chief justice took suo moto notice.
They said over 50 such containers had been listed in the previous two months (January-February) 2011. The News
