PESHAWAR, Jan 10: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has exempted federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao from paying Rs10 million in customs duty on import of a luxurious car when he was the NWFP chief minister.

The counsel representing the CBR and the Collector of Customs informed the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday that the board had recently withdrawn its notice issued to Mr Sherpao and the three other chief ministers serving in 1996.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan and Justice Qaim Jan Khan disposed of a writ petition filed by Mr Sherpao as his counsel Zaffar Abbas Zaidi contended that after the withdrawal of the impugned notice the present petition had become infructuous.

Mr Zaidi stated that they had challenged the notice issued by a deputy collector of customs on the ground that according to law chief ministers were exempted from payment of customs duty on account of import of a car.

The petition had been lingering on in the high court for the last more than four years. The luxurious Mercedes car was imported by Aftab Sherpao in 1996 when he was the chief minister.

The high court had already admitted the petition and stayed the recovery of the amount from the petitioner by suspending the impugned order issued by the Collector of Customs in 1999.

Advocate Eid Mohammad Khattak, appearing for the CBR, informed the court that recently the CBR had withdrawn the impugned notice and decided that the then chief ministers were exempted from payment of customs duty on import of a car. He also presented a copy of the said order carrying signature of secretary customs Zahid J. Yaqoob.

Mr Zaidi contended that after withdrawal of the impugned notice he would not press the petition.

The petitioner had contended that he was not the only person who had imported a Mercedes car and a number of other dignitaries had also availed that facility.

He stated that he was the chief minister of NWFP in 1996 when an Act was passed by parliament whereby various dignitaries were exempted from payment of customs duty on import of a vehicle. He added that he had imported the car after that the Act and thus he was exempted from payment of the customs duty. He stated that even in the Bill of Landing it was mentioned that the said car was exempted from levy of customs duty.

The respondents initially stated that Mr Sherpao was not exempted from payment of the said duty. They stated that under a Presidential Order the president, prime minister, governors and chiefs of the three forces were exempted from payment of customs duty on import of a vehicle upto 3200 CC, and added that this was a one time exemption and Mr Sherpao had not produced the exemption certificate.