Mst. ZAHIDA HASNAIN VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN
2005 P T D 1010
[Karachi High Court]
Before Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, C.J. and Wahid Bux Brohi, J
Mst. ZAHIDA HASNAIN
versus
FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Finance Secretary, Government of Pakistan, Central Customs and Excise Division Pak-Secretariat, Islamabad and 6 others
C.P. No. D-37 of 2000, decided on /01/.
8th February, 2001. Customs Act (IV of 1969)---
----S.168---Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art. 199---Constitutional petition---Scope---Seizure and detention of vehicle---Alternate remedy available under a statute---Effect---Not discretion or choice of petitioner to abandon such statutory remedy and invoke Constitutional jurisdiction of High Court---Principles.
Once a party has taken recourse to the remedies available to him under a statute, then the law shall have to take its own course and the parties should resort to all the remedies available under the said statute. In such cases, it is not the choice or discretion of the party to abandon the remedies available to him by way of appeal or revision and to invoke the Constitutional jurisdiction of High Court.
The Commissioner of Income Tax v. MessrsN.V. Philips PLD 1993 SC 434 rel.
M.M. Tariq for Petitioner.
Raja M. Iqbal for Respondent.
ORDER
In this petition, the petitioner has sought the following reliefs.
(1)To declare that the impugned seizure/detention of vehicle Registration PL-1538, Engine No.233892, Chassis No.525727, Model 1992, Daweoo Racer, notice under section 171 of Customs Act, show-cause notice, dated 21-11-1998, order, dated 7-12-1998, order, dated 19-8-1999 and order, dated 7-10-1999 are illegal, unwarranted by law, unconstitutional, un-Islamic and nullity in the eye of law and set aside the same.
(2)To direct the respondents 2 and 3 to deliver the peaceful possession of the said motor vehicle to the petitioner or to her duly authorized attorney and restrain them from auctioning the said vehicle.
(3)To grant any other relief as deems fit and proper, keeping in view the circumstances of the case.
The petitioner and his advocate were called absent on two occasions earlier. The matter was again taken up at 12.40 p.m. when Mr. Saghir Hussain Jaffri, Advocate holding brief for the petitioner s counsel requested for adjournment on the ground thatthe latter is ill and unable to be present in Court.
We have gone through the petition as well as prayers which have been sought for in the petition. The matter pertains to seizure of yellow Taxi Cab by respondent No.4 on the ground that it was being used in violation of the rules and regulations relating to use of Yellow Cabs imported under the Prime Minister s Yellow Cab Scheme.
Similar petitions had been disposed off by us holding that the issues and the disputes involved in such matters were not to be agitated in a Constitutional petition as appropriate forums were available for adjudication of the disputes. The petitioner had admittedly challenged the order of seizure of the respondent No.4 before the Collector of Customs, who dismissed his appeal upholding the order of the Assistant Collector of Customs (respondent No.4). The said order was liable to be challenged before the Customs Excise and Sales Tax Tribunal but the petitioner instead of having recourse to the said Tribunal invoked the Constitutional jurisdiction of this Court. It is a settled principle of law that once a party has taken recourse to the remedies available to him under a statute then the law has to take its own course and the parties should resort to all the remedies under the said statute. It has further been held that in such cases it is not the choice or discretion of the party to abandon the remedies available to him by way of appeal or revision and to invoke the Constitutional jurisdiction of this Court. In support of the above reliance is placed on the case of The Commissioner of Income Tax v. MessrsN.V. Philips reported in PLD 1993 SC 434.
Upon the above discussion, we find that this petition is misconceived and not maintainable, therefore, the request made by Mr. Saghir Hussain Jaffri was disallowed. Accordingly it stands dismissed in limine along with listed application.
S.A.K./Z-17/KPetition dismissed.