The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is asking why the state should gain from higher gold prices while a citizen is offered payment based on 2023 rates for gold bars the authorities were ordered to return. The court has issued a show-cause notice to the relevant collector and given the official two weeks to respond.
The authorities had proposed paying about Rs4.8 million instead of handing back the seized gold. The bench expressed dissatisfaction with that plan.
Compensation dispute over gold valuation
A division bench of Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir was hearing a contempt of court petition filed by Waqar-un-Nisa. She had earlier obtained an order for the return of the bars, and Barrister Daniyal Sohail represented her.
Her counsel argued that the offer was calculated using 2023 gold prices rather than current market rates. As a result, the petitioner would absorb the loss created by the rise in value. The bench questioned why the state should benefit from that increase when the court had required the gold itself to be returned.
Officials cite customs rules for gold transfer
Officials told the court that the seized gold had already been transferred to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and could no longer be retrieved. They relied on paragraph 34(2) of Customs General Order No. 12 of 2002 as the basis for the move.
The bench did not accept that explanation. It noted that Section 169(4) of the Customs Act concerns the sale of seized goods and the safekeeping of the proceeds. In its view, the provision does not expressly require seized gold to be permanently handed to the SBP with no possibility of return.
The court also questioned why the petitioner should receive a payment below the gold’s current market value when the bars had not been given back. Finding the official explanation unsatisfactory, it issued the show-cause notice and adjourned proceedings until November 2.
