Independent Case Scrutiny Committee (Customs) Rules 2026
SRO 1141(I)/2026 is a Customs SRO dated 22 July 2026, listed by FBR as "Independent Case Scrutiny Committee (Customs) Rules 2026".
FBR publishes this SRO as scanned images, so the text below was transcribed by Qanoon Digest from the page images, with tables set out as tables. Check the official PDF before relying on any wording or figure.
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Government of Pakistan
Revenue Division
Federal Board of Revenue
Islamabad, the 22th July, 2026.
NOTIFICATION
S.R.O. 1141 (I)/2026.- The following draft of certain further amendments in the Customs Rules, 2001, which the Federal Board of Revenue proposes to make in exercise of the powers conferred by section 219 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), is hereby published for information of all persons likely to be affected thereby and, as required by sub-section (3A) of the said section 219, notice is hereby given that objections or suggestions thereon, if any, may for consideration of the Federal Board of Revenue be sent within seven days of publication of this draft in the official Gazette. Any objections or suggestions which may be received from any person, before the expiry of the aforesaid period, shall be taken into consideration by the Federal Board of Revenue, namely: -
Draft amendment
In the aforesaid rules, after Chapter XLIX, the following new chapter shall be added, namely: -
"Chapter XLX
Independent Case Scrutiny Committee Rules
1242. Short title and commencement. - (1) These rules shall be called the Federal Board of Revenue Independent Case Scrutiny Committee (Customs) Rules, 2026.
(2) They shall come into force at once.
1243. Definitions. - In these rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, -
(a) "Chairperson" means the head of the Independent Case Scrutiny Committee;
(b) "committee" means any of the independent case scrutiny committees constituted under these rules for specified territorial jurisdiction;
(c) "petition" means a petition to the Supreme Court under Article 185(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or the Federal Constitutional Court;
(d) "reference" means a reference to the High Court under section 196 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969);
(e) "Secretary" means an officer of Pakistan Customs Service nomimated by the Board for the purposes of the committee;
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(f) "Serving or Retired Member of the Committee" means a serving or retired officer of Customs of Bs-20 or above.
1244. Constitution, Jurisdiction and Functions of the committees: The Board through an order shall constitute the following committees with powers, functions and jurisdiction, namely: -
Committee No. 1 (North)
| S.No | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court or any of the High Courts of Pakistan | Chairperson | i. to timely examine each case before a decision is made to file a reference before the High Court, a petition before the Supreme Court or Federal Constitutional Court; ii. to review pending references and petitions periodically to determine whether continuation of litigation is warranted; iii. to maintain a database of settled legal questions and relevant precedents to guide future litigation decisions and ensure consistency; and iv. to identify systemic issues requiring legislative or administrative interventions and recommend appropriate measures to the Board. Jurisdiction: References to be filed before the High Court and CPLA to be filed before the Supreme Court and Federal Constitutional Court by: i. Collectorate of Customs (Airports) Islamabad; ii. Collectorate of Customs (IOCO) Islamabad; iii. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Islamabad; iv. Collectorate of Customs, Gilgit Baltistan; v. Directorate of Transit Trade, Gilgit Baltistan; vi. DirectorateP General, I&RM-Customs, Islamabad; vii. Director of I&RM, Islamabad; viii. Directorate of PCA and Internal Audit, Islamabad; ix. Directorate General and Director, |
| 2 | An Advocate having not less than fifteen years' experience in Customs, Tax and commercial litigation before the High Courts and/or the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Member | |
| 3 | A serving or retired officer of Customs Service of Pakistan as defined under these rules | Member | |
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| S.No | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPRE (North), Islamabad; x. DG NNDA, Islamabad; xi. Customs Academy of Pakistan, Islamabad; xii. Directorate of National Nuclear Detection Architecture (NNDA), Islamabad; xiii. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Peshawar; xiv. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement), Peshawar; xv. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement), Kohat; xvi. Directorate of I&RM, Peshawar xvii. Directorate of Valuation-Customs, Peshawar; xviii. Directorate of Transit Trade, Peshawar; xix. DNFBP, Peshawar; xx. Customs Enforcement School, Peshawar; xxi. Office of the Chief Collector Appraisement-North, Peshawar; xxii. Office of the Chief Collector Enforcement, Islamabad; and xxiii. Office of the Chief Collector Airports, Islamabad. |
Committee No. 2 (Central)
| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court or any of the High Courts of Pakistan | Chairperson | i. to timely examine each case before a decision is made to file a reference before the High Court, a petition before the Supreme Court or Federal Constitutional Court; ii. to review pending references and petitions periodically to determine whether continuation of litigation is warranted; iii. to maintain a database of settled legal questions and relevant precedents to guide future litigation decisions and ensure consistency; and iv. to identify systemic issues requiring legislative or administrative interventions and recommend appropriate measures to the Board; Jurisdiction: References to be filed before High Court and CPLA to be filed |
| 2 | An Advocate having not less than fifteen years' experience in Customs, Tax and Commercial litigation before the High Courts and/or the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Member | |
| 3 | A serving or retired officer of Customs Service of Pakistan as defined under these rules | Member | |
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| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| before the Supreme Court and Federal Constitutional Court by: i. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Lahore; ii. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Sargodha; iii. Collectorate of Customs (Airports), Lahore; iv. Collectorate of Customs (Sambrial), Sialkot; v. Collectorate of Customs (IOCO), Lahore; vi. Collectorate of Customs, Appraisement-Faisalabad; vii. Collectorate of Customs Appraisement-West, Lahore; viii. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Multan; ix. Directorate of I&RM-Customs, Lahore; x. Directorate of PCA and Internal Audit (Central), Lahore; xi. Directorate of NNDA, Lahore; xii. Director IPRE (Central), Lahore; xiii. Directorate of Valuation-Customs, Lahore; xiv. Directorate of Transit Trade, Lahore; xv. Office of the Chief Collector Central, Punjab; and xvi. Collectorate of Customs Enforcement, Indus. |
Committee No. 3 (South-1)
| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court or any of the High Courts of Pakistan | Chairperson | i. to timely examine each case before a decision is made to file a reference before the High Court, a petition before the Supreme Court or Federal Constitutional Court; ii. to review pending references and petitions periodically to determine whether continuation of litigation is warranted; iii. to maintain a database of settled legal questions and relevant precedents to guide future litigation decisions and ensure consistency and iv. to identify systemic issues requiring legislative or administrative interventions and recommend appropriate measures to the Board; |
| 2 | An Advocate having not less than fifteen years' experience in Customs, Tax and Commercial litigation before the High Courts and/or the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Member | |
| 3 | A serving or retired officer of Customs Service of Pakistan as defined under these rules | Member | |
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| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction: References to be filed before High Court and CPLA to be filed before the Supreme Court and Federal Constitutional Court by: i. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Quetta; ii. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Gadani; iii. Collectorate of Customs, Appraisement, Quetta; iv. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement), Gwadar; v. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement), Taftan; vi. Directorate of I&RM-Customs, Quetta; vii. The Director, Valuation-Customs, Quetta; viii. Directorate of Transit Trade, Quetta; ix. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Karachi; x. Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Hyderabad; xi. Collectorate of Customs (Airports), Karachi; xii. Directorate of NNDA, Quetta; xiii. DNFBPs, Quetta; xiv. Office of the Chief Collector Appraisement, Balochistan. |
Committee No. 4 (South-II)
| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions & Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court or any of the High Courts of Pakistan | Chairperson | i. to timely examine each case before a decision is made to file a reference before the High Court, a petition before the Supreme Court or Federal Constitutional Court; ii. to review pending references and petitions periodically to determine whether continuation of litigation is warranted; iii. to maintain a database of settled legal questions and relevant precedents to guide future litigation decisions and ensure consistency; and iv. to identify systemic issues requiring legislative or administrative interventions and recommend appropriate measures to the Board; |
| 2 | An Advocate having not less than fifteen years' experience in Customs, Tax and Commercial litigation before the High Courts and/or the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Member | |
| 3 | A serving or retired officer of Customs Service of Pakistan as defined under these rules | Member | |
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| S.No. | Member | Status | Functions & Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jrisdiction: References to be filed before High Court and CPLA to be filed before the Supreme Court and Federal Constitutional Court by: i. Collectorate of Customs (Exports-PMBQ), Karachi; ii. Collectorate of Customs (Export), Karachi; iii. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-East), Karachi iv. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-West), Karachi; v. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-SAPT), Karachi; vi. Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-PMBQ), Karachi; vii. Collectorate of Customs (IOCO), Karachi; viii. Directorate of I&RM-Customs, Karachi; ix. Directorate of PCA and Internal Audit (South), Karachi; x. Directorate of NNDA, Karachi; xi. Directorate of IPRE (South), Karachi; xii. Directorate General of Customs Academy of Pakistan, Karachi; xiii. Directorate General of Valuation-Customs, Karachi; xiv. Directorate General of Transit Trade (HQ), Karachi & directorate of Transit Trade (Operations), Karachi; xv. Directorate of Reforms and Automation-Customs, (R&A), Karachi; xvi. Office of the Chief Collector (Appraisement-South), Karachi; and xvii. Office of the Chief Collector Exports & IOCO (Hqr), Karachi. |
1245. Search Committee. - The Board, for the purpose of identifying suitable candidates, may constitute a search committee, the composition, terms of reference and procedure whereof shall be determined by the Board.
1246. Procedure, Secretariat, Confidentiality, Scrutiny and Review. -(1) Proceedings and records placed before the committee shall be confidential.
(2) The Chairperson or any Member having a conflict of interest in a matter shall recuse himself and such recusal shall be recorded in the minutes. In any such case, the Chairperson or Member from any other jurisdiction as a replacement shall be appointed by the Board.
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(3) The Secretary shall convene meetings, circulate agenda, maintain minutes and a case register or docket and communicate the committee's recommendations to the Member (Legal & Accounting-Customs) and the Chief Collector or Director General, concerned.
(4) The Member (Legal & Accounting-Customs) or Member (Customs-Operations) or Chief Collector or Director General shall refer a case for pre-filing scrutiny and any pending reference or petition for review, including consideration of withdrawal or non-pursuance, and the Secretary shall immediately place such cases before the committee, accordingly.
(5) The Member (Legal & Accounting-Customs) may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, transfer the jurisdiction of a case from one case scrutiny committee to another.
1247. Mandatory pre-filing scrutiny. - No reference before a High Court or petition before the Supreme Court or Federal Constitutional Court, after the issuance of these rules, shall be filed unless the case has been placed before the concerned committee and the committee's recommendation is on record.
1248. Referral and Proceedings of the Committee. - (1) The entire process of referral of cases to the committee, proceedings and communication of its recommendation, shall be conducted through a dedicated portal by PSW or through such modifications as may be made to the existing WeBOC system for the said purpose.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), until the said portal is operationalized, referrals and proceedings may be made through manual mode in such form and manner as the Member (Legal & Accounting-Customs) may determine.
(3) The referral shall contain all material particulars including the manner of reference, documents required, revenue implications involved, questions of law requiring interpretation, precedents and settled law, basis of the case, the original decision, the appellate decision where applicable, and the recommendation of the Chief Collector or Director General concerned or Member (Customs-Operations) / Member (Legal /Accounting-Customs) where applicable, and all relevant documents shall be attached thereto.
1249. Meetings, quorum and decision-making. - (1) The committee shall meet as often as necessary to discharge its functions effectively. However, unless the workload pending is zero at any given day, the committee shall convene on daily basis. The proceedings of the committee may be in person or through video link.
(2) The quorum for a meeting shall be three Members, including the Chairperson and the Advocate Member.
(3) The decision shall be by majority vote and recorded in the minutes with brief reasons; any dissenting opinion, if recorded by a Member, shall form part of the official record.
1250. Withdrawal or non-pursuance. -Where the committee recommends withdrawal or non-pursuance of any case, the Secretary shall inform the referring authority accordingly under intimation to the Member (Legal and Accounting - Customs) and Member Customs (Operations).
1251. Calling for record. - The committee may call for any record, brief, or clarification from any office or field formation through the Secretary.
1252. Timelines for decision. - (1) The committee shall endeavor to decide each case placed before it within fifteen days of the receipt of the case.
(2) In case the Committee fails to finalize its recommendations within fifteen days,
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the Chairperson under intimation to Member (Legal & Accounting-Customs), may extend this time for further ten days.
(3) If the committee does not render a decision within the prescribed timeline (including any extension under sub-rule (2) above), the case shall be deemed to have been cleared for filing, subject to compliance with all other applicable legal requirements and the secretary shall record in writing that the prescribed period has been lapsed and intimate the Member, or Chief Collector or Director General concerned to proceed accordingly.
1253. Emergency and urgent references/petitions. - (1) Where the period of limitation for filing a reference or petition is expiring within fifteen days, or where there is imminent and substantial revenue loss or for any other reason highlighted by the referring authority, requiring urgent intervention, the matter may be placed before the Chairperson as an emergency case.
(2) The Chairperson may, after prima facie satisfaction of the urgency, approve a fast track decision before the expiry of the period of limitation for filing a reference or petition.
(3) Any emergency approval granted under this rule shall be subject to post-facto review by the full committee within thirty days.
1254. Publication and transparency. - (1) The committee shall cause to publish, on a yearly basis, anonymized summaries of its recommendations excluding confidential commercial information and taxpayer identifying details.
(2) The published summaries shall include the questions of law considered, the decision criteria applied, and the recommendation made.
(3) The committee shall maintain a searchable database of published decisions for reference by field formations and to ensure consistency in future decisions.
1255. Tenure. - The Chairperson and the members shall hold office for a term of one year, extendable for a further term of one year, on continued fitness and satisfactory performance, as may be decided by the Board.
1256. Resignation and removal. - (1) The Chairperson or any member may resign, in writing, through an application addressed to the Board with thirty days' notice.
(2) The Chairperson or any member may be removed by the Board on grounds of corrupt practices, conflict of interest, misconduct, breach of confidentiality, or inability to perform functions, after providing an opportunity of being heard.
1257. Remuneration and allowances. - (1) The non-serving Members of each committee shall be paid Fees as follows: -
(a) the Chairperson shall be entitled to a monthly Fee of twelve hundred thousand rupees, and in addition thereto, a per case Fee of twenty-five thousand rupees in respect of which a recommendation is made, whether in favour of filing or otherwise, subject to a maximum of twenty cases per month:
(b) the Advocate Member shall be entitled to a monthly Fee of eight hundred thousand rupees, and in addition thereto, a per case Fee of twelve thousand and five hundred rupees in respect of which a recommendation is made, whether in
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favour of filing or otherwise, subject to a maximum of twenty cases per month:
(c) the Member who is retired from Customs service, shall be entitled to a monthly Fee of eight hundred thousand rupees, and in addition thereto, a per case Fee of twelve thousand and five hundred rupees in respect of which a recommendation is made, whether in favour of filing or otherwise, subject to a maximum of twenty cases per month: and
(d) the remuneration of the support staff shall be determined by the Board.
(2) The serving officer of Customs being member of the committee and the Secretary, shall not be entitled to additional remuneration; however, they may be granted a cash reward/honorarium for work undertaken for the purposes of the committee, under relevant rules.
(3) The Chairperson and all Members excluding serving Members of BS-20, shall be entitled to TA/DA for official travel as admissible to a grade 21 officer of the Federal Government.
1258. Annual reporting and performance evaluation. - (1) The committee shall submit an annual report to the Board by the 31st of March each year, covering the preceding financial year and shall consist of,-
(a) the number of cases reviewed, and recommendations made (to file, not to file, or to withdraw);
(b) the outcome of filed references and petitions (decided in favour, against, pending, or settled);
(c) analysis of success rate and factors contributing to favorable or unfavorable outcomes;
(d) revenue implications of decisions made pursuant to committee recommendations;
(e) identification of recurring legal issues and systemic problems requiring legislative or administrative intervention;
(f) Recommendations for improving litigation management and enhancing the effectiveness of the committee.
[C.No.2(7) L & P/2026]
(Zubair Shah)
Secretary (Law & Procedure)
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