PESHAWAR, Oct 17: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court rejected here on Wednesday 31 identical petitions challenging confiscation by the customs department of vehicles imported under the Transfer of Residence (TR) scheme.

The bench, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi, ruled that the pleas were not maintainable as the petitioners should have first moved the assistant collector (adjudication), and directed that the AC (adjudication) should decide the issue in three months.

The court also observed that if the petitioners were then aggrieved with the order of the assistant collector they could also file appeal before the customs appellate tribunal.

The counsellor for the petitioners, argued that under the PR scheme a Pakistani residing abroad was entitled to import a vehicle after two years.