PESHAWAR, Feb 15: The Peshawar High Court on Friday summoned the collector and deputy collector customs department for allegedly committing contempt of the court.

A division bench comprising Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai and Justice Ijaz Afzal ordered that the collector, Humayun Sikanderi and deputy collector Sadiqullah should appear in person on Feb 19.

The order was issued in a contempt of court application filed by Sher Ahmad, stating that despite repeated orders and directives issued by the supreme court and high court the respondents had not released huge quantity of silver seized from him by the custom department.

Senior advocate Abdul Hakeem Kundi appeared for the applicant and contended that the respondents had been delaying the matter on one pretext or another.

He argued that a few days back another contempt of the court application was disposed of when the officials promised that they would return back the silver. However, he added that a review petition was filed before the supreme court and an application was filed before the high court for staying the earlier order, but the high court had rejected that application.

He informed the court that in line with the orders of the high court the concerned owner was brought on wheelchair and produced before the customs officials as he was critically ill and was then taken to the customs house in an ambulance.

He added that despite that the seized silver was not released. Now, he added, he was informed that the seized silver would be released on Feb 18.

The bench observed that the case would be taken up for hearing on Feb 19, and if the silver was released until that time the application would be disposed of.

The applicant was arrested more than a decade ago by the customs department when he was travelling in a vehicle near Azakhel. The customs officials recovered about 2,700 tolas of silver from the vehicle. The silver belonged to a jeweller Abid Hussain.