KARACHI, Nov 12: Justice Mushir Alam of the Sindh High Court restrained the army officials on Friday from interfering in the mining activities of a cement factory near Pipri.
M/s Pakland Cement instituted a suit for injunction against army officials in the mining concession area leased out to it. By an interim order, the court restrained the defendants till Dec 2, the next date of hearing, for which the federal and provincial law officers, the defence secretary, the Sindh mines and mineral development department and the provincial board of revenue were also put on notice.
The plaintiff concern claimed that it was leased out an area of 3061 acres at Pipri. In fact, it set up a cement factory in view of availability of minor minerals in the area and the grant of mining rights to it. However, without notice and without seeking objections, the area is said to have been allotted to the army. The army officials were now interfering in the mining activities in the area and were restricting access of miners to it.
The plaintiff concern claimed that the interference would not only cause a big loss to it and its factory but also to the public exchequer. A number of taxes and duties were being paid by it to the exchequer, in addition to the lease amount.
Saying that the interference was already badly affecting its operations, the concern sought a permanent injunction against the defendant officials and an interim restraint order pending the proceedings. The court passed an ad interim order and issued notices to the federal and provincial authorities concerned for Dec 2.
BAIL CONFIRMED: Justice Shabbir Ahmed of the Sindh High Court on Friday admitted to bail a forex dealer caught carrying foreign currency and confirmed the prear rest bail granted to two co-accused.
Mehboob Kukaswadia stated that he was travelling as a representative of a forex company when intercepted and arrested at the Karachi airport on Sept 14 for carrying foreign currency worth Rs 21 million abroad.
Two directors of the company were also implicated in the smuggling case registered against him, but they were granted bail before arrest by the high court. Arguing for bail, Advocate Raja Qureshi submitted that the prosecution has failed to make out a case of smuggling against the petitioner.
The word 'currency' used in the Customs Act was confined to the Pak rupee and did not cover other currencies, taking abroad of which did not amount to smuggling or constitute an offence.
Besides, the lawyer argued, The Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992, defined 'forex' independently and separately and it could not be included in the general word 'currency'.
The provisions of the 1992 Act superseded those of the Customs Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. There was no element of criminal intent on the part of the accused and he was working for a forex company duly licensed by the State Bank of Pakistan under Section 3AA of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.
There was no violation of the terms of the license, the counsel further argued. The court observed that bail could not be withheld as a matter of advance punishment and allowed the bail plea. It also confirmed the prear rest bail granted to the directors of the company.