IGP told to act against delinquent officers

Taking exception to “misuse of power” by the SHO of the Mochko police station and his subordinates by seizing vehicles with alleged smuggled goods instead of handing them over to customs authorities for legal action, a sessions court on Friday directed the Sindh police chief to take departmental action against delinquent police officers, including the SHO.

Additional Sessions Judge (West) Sohail Ahmed Mashori directed Sindh’s inspector general of police (IGP) to ensure installation of CCTV cameras and scanners at the border check post to check smuggling and large-scale corrupt practices.

Farrukh Syed filed an application challenging a judicial magistrate’s June 7 order, whereby his plea for the return of a truck seized by the police was dismissed with the observation that the matter fell under the jurisdiction of a special customs court.

The applicant’s lawyer contended that the Mochko police seized his client’s vehicle carrying diesel on the pretext of smuggling. The cops should have reported the matter to the customs authorities to determine whether the recovered oil was smuggled, but instead of complying with Section 170 of the Customs Act, 1969, took the matter to an ordinary court with malafide intentions and raised no objection to the release of the seized goods before the court.

In his detailed order, the judge observed that the Mochko SHO was ordered by the magistrate to hand over the seized diesel and vehicle to customs authorities, but the SHO failed to comply, claiming that customs officials refused to accept them. “The conduct of the SHO of the Mochko police station and his subordinates raises serious concerns about the misuse of their powers,” he noted.

“HC Ayaz stopped the aforementioned truck allegedly carrying 750 liters of smuggled Iranian oil. The police were required to immediately inform the customs Check Post, which is adjacent to the police post at Mochko.”

The judge was of the view that this case exemplified the misuse of power by the SHO, who detained trucks on the pretext of carrying smuggled goods. Instead of handing over the recovered truck to the nearby customs check post, the SHO misused his authority by initiating proceedings under Section 550 (power to police to seize property suspected to be stolen) of the CrPC, he said, adding the cop claimed that the recovered oil didn’t fall under the Customs Act due to its small quantity; however, no laboratory report was available to substantiate the claim of the diesel being Iranian. “It is apparent that the SHO and his staff seize vehicles with smuggled items and make deals; if the deals fail, they proceed to seize the vehicles under Section 550 CrPC.”

“The police of district West are taking self-contradictory stances. On one hand, they claim the seized goods are of foreign origin and fall under Section 2(s) of the Customs Act. However, instead of handing over the seized goods to the nearby Customs check post in compliance with Section 170 of the Customs Act, they bring the goods to the police station and either release them on the spot or book them under Section 550 CrPC, followed by favorable reports [submitted to courts for their release],” he went on.

Noting that in this case, the SHO of PS Mochko malafidely seized the truck carrying 750 litres of diesel and booked it under Section 550 of the CrPC, the judge directed the police to release the vehicle after the applicant produces its original documents. Prosecutor Mohammad Ashraf Qaiser appeared on behalf of the state.