LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ordered customs authorities to return three kilograms of gold and 10,000 US dollars to a citizen, 22 years after they were confiscated.
The verdict was issued by a two-member bench headed by Justice Malik Javed Iqbal Wains and Justice Khalid Ishaq in a detailed nine-page judgment. The court directed that the gold, which had been melted and converted into a bar by customs officials, be returned in its current form rather than its monetary value.
According to case details, customs authorities had arrested the citizen at Lahore Airport in 2004 for allegedly attempting to take three kilograms of gold and 10,000 dollars abroad, subsequently confiscating both. Despite the individual’s acquittal in the case, the seized items were not returned, prompting the petition.
The court ruled that altering the form of seized property does not extinguish ownership rights, emphasizing that the state acts only as a custodian and cannot unlawfully retain private property. It further noted that under Article 24 of the Constitution, citizens are guaranteed protection of property and cannot be deprived of it without due legal process.
The bench declared an earlier customs decision to refund Rs5.8 million as незаконful, observing that authorities failed to provide evidence of any lawful auction of the gold. It stated that determining the monetary value alone cannot substitute for the return of the actual property.
The court imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on the petitioner and ordered customs officials to hand over the gold bar made from the melted gold. Additionally, the petitioner must be paid 10,000 US dollars or its equivalent in Pakistani rupees at the prevailing exchange rate.
During proceedings, the customs department’s counsel argued that the gold had already been transferred to the State Bank and that only its sale proceeds could be returned. However, the court rejected this stance and approved the citizen’s petition.
