PESHAWAR, Dec 8: The customs appellate bench of the Peshawar High Court on Monday dismissed bail petition of a person accused of smuggling falcons to the Middle East.

The bench, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, observed that under the law, falcons could not be taken out of the country without special permits.

The accused-petitioner was arrested by officials of the Customs Department at the Peshawar International Airport on Oct 31. The accused had allegedly concealed 12 falcons along with pigeons in different cages. The cages were booked for Doha (Qatar).

The accused was charged under Section 156(1)(2s) of the Customs Act read with Section 13 of the Wild Life Act, 1975.

The deputy attorney general, Salahuddin Khan appeared for the customs department and argued that the petitioner was not entitled to bail as falcons were included in the prohibited items’ list and they could not be taken out of the country without special permits from the Ministry of Environment.

Mr Khan argued that the petitioner had produced a forged permit purportedly issued by a deputy director of the wild life department. He contended that the petitioner had committed forgery by producing the fake permit.

The defence counsel argued that it had yet to be established that the falcons were owned by the petitioner. He contended that the petitioner was not aware about the presence of these falcons in the said cages. He added that he was not owner of these falcons.