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ISLAMABAD, Nov 06 (APP): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday has overturned a Sindh High Court judgment and upheld the stance of the Customs Appraisement Department, Karachi, ruling that imported steel rollers do not qualify for mutilation or classification as scrap.
In a written judgment approved for reporting, the apex court held that Customs acted lawfully in refusing permission for mutilation. The verdict was authored by Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui on a petition filed by the Collector of Customs, Karachi, against M/s M.M. Steel, Sialkot.
The court noted that M.M. Steel imported machine rollers in June 2022, declaring them as iron and steel scrap, and later sought permission to mutilate them. Customs authorities rejected the request on the ground that rollers were not included in the approved list of items eligible for mutilation under Rule 592 of the Customs Rules, 2001.
M.M. Steel challenged the decision in the Sindh High Court, which ruled in its favor. However, the Supreme Court found the High Court’s ruling contrary to law and facts and annulled it.
The judgment stated that rollers neither appear in the prescribed list of items nor fall within the legal definition of mutilation. The law applies only to goods explicitly mentioned in Rule 592, and the court cannot add new categories to it.
The apex court further clarified that under Section 27A, mutilation is permitted only for old or used items such as pipes, bars, sheets, beams, ship plates, tires, and industrial inputs — not for steel rollers.
The Supreme Court observed that the High Court erred in assuming the rollers could be treated as scrap due to being unserviceable, while the importer itself had declared them serviceable. The court restored the Customs decision and upheld the rejection of M.M. Steel’s request.