FCC fumes over parking of oil tankers for three years

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday expressed its strong displeasure over the parking of oil tankers for three years, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the hearing of the case pertaining to the smuggling of oil and gas from Iran, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi remarked that it was strange that the Pakistan Customs officials impounded these tankers, containing oil, which is an inflammable item, and did not release them for three years.

“Parking them for such a long period of time can be extremely dangerous,” the judge said, adding, “Who will be responsible if any of these tankers catches fire due to the lighting of a cigarette?”

The judge further said that by not returning these tankers, the Customs officials would have rendered so many drivers jobless.

Waseem Sajjad, counsel for Pakistan Customs, told the court that these tankers contained petrol, which had been smuggled from Iran.

Disagreeing with Sajjad, counsel for importers said that the tankers did not contain Iranian petrol, but light hydrocarbon.

Justice Rozi Khan remarked that it was a big business. “Chemicals are mixed with hydrocarbons to produce petrol,” the judge added.

The FCC ordered the laboratory test of the tankers carrying hydrocarbons within 15 days.

“It the test is positive, then these tankers be released after collecting the security fee,” the court ordered.

A three-member bench of the FCC, headed by Justice Rizvi, heard the case.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori