PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday accepted a writ petition filed against the orders of a Special Court that had directed the confiscation of a citizen’s high-value property in Mardan.
The court remanded the case back to the trial court with instructions to properly examine the petitioner’s property documents.A bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Ijaz Khan heard the petition filed by Syed Muhammad.
The respondents in the case included the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Peshawar, the special judge of Customs, Taxation and Anti-Smuggling, among others.During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Zia-ur-Rehman Tajik, argued that the ANF had registered a complaint against his client on October 27, 2007, under the Prevention of Smuggling Act 1977.
The complaint alleged that the petitioner had constructed 18 shops, nine quarters, and a residential house spread over two kanals in Mardan using proceeds from smuggling.The counsel contended that these allegations were baseless, stating that the properties were acquired through legal and legitimate means, with some inherited.
He argued that no concrete evidence had been produced, and even government witnesses, including revenue officials, were not produced before the court along with relevant records. He added that an anti-smuggling court failed to properly consider the defense evidence in its judgment. The lawyer maintained that the Regional Directorate of the ANF Peshawar did not have the authority to seize private property.
It was argued that the proceedings were initiated on the basis of a letter from the Saudi government, despite the fact that the petitioner had already been acquitted in all four narcotics cases against him.
