The petitioner namely Atte. Ullah Qamar son of Hazrat Ullah by filing the instant petition seeks post-arrest bail in case No, 39, dated 8.5.2007, registered with Police Station Investigation & Prosecution Cell, Collectorate of Customs, Customs House Nabha Road, Lahore for offences under Sections 32-A, 32(1), 15(f), 156(1), (9), (14), (14-A), 178 of the Customs Act, 1969, at the instance of Habib Ullah Khan, Deputy Superintendent, Customs Export AFU, Airport, Lahore.
2. Precisely, the allegation against the petitioner, according to the F.I.R. was that he being a Customs Clearing Agent had attempted to cause loss to the public exchequer by filing three bills of export from the respective exporters declaring untrue information regarding the nature, quantity and the value of the exported goods in order to earn rebate in duties and taxes.
3. The petitioner had been arrested on 28.6.2007 after dismissal of his pre-arrest bail application and is in custody ever since. His plea for post-arrest bail had also been turned down by the learned Special Judge Customs, Lahore vide order, dated 13.8.2007. Thereafter, he had approached this Court for the said relief through Crl. Misc. No, 6469/B of 2007, but the same had been dismissed as having been withdrawn on 2.10.2007. Hence the instant petition.
4. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned Legal Advisor for the Customs Department and have gone through the record brought by Israr Hussain Shah, Inspector Customs. It has been observed that according to the case of the prosecution itself the bills of export had initially been cleared by the concerned Customs staff, but on an information received by the Collector of Customs, Lahore, the goods which were to be exported through the bills of export had been re-checked and it had been found that the same were different from those, which had been cleared by the functionaries of the Customs Department. On Court query, whether any action had been taken against the delinquent officials of the Customs Department, the learned Legal Advisor has failed to furnish any plausible explanation except saying that show-cause notices have been issued to the relevant members of the staff, who had been found involved in the transaction. Likewise no action against the main likely I beneficiaries i,e, the exporters has been taken by the investigating agency. The petitioner, who is merely a Customs Clearing Agent, is behind the bars for the last about one year and his further incarceration keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case would not serve any useful purpose.
5. Resultantly, I allow this petition and admit the petitioner to post-arrest bail subject to his furnishing bail bond in the sum of Rs,5,00,000/- (Rupees five lac) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court.