An imported stretched vehicle was presented for clearance under PCT Heading 87.02 — the heading for vehicles designed for ten or more persons. Customs examined it and found it was originally designed and constructed as a five-seater; it assessed the vehicle under Heading 87.03 (PCT 8703.2490). The Tribunal and then the Peshawar High Court (Custom Reference No.12-P of 2014, decided 05.10.2023) sided with the importer. The Collector of Customs came to the Supreme Court in C.P.4459/2023.
On 18.08.2026, the Supreme Court — Mr. Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui authoring, with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Mr. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb — converted the petition into an appeal, allowed it, and set aside the High Court's judgment. The holding is a clean classification rule: Heading 87.02 requires a vehicle designed and constructed for ten or more persons — the mere addition of seats at the time of importation does not change classification. Original design and construction are determinative.
The Court also dealt with the importer's precedent: the High Court had relied on the Sindh High Court's Muhammad Shafique decision — but that judgment had already been set aside by the Supreme Court, so the reliance was misplaced. A precedent that no longer exists cannot decide a case.
For importers of modified vehicles, the message is mechanical, not moral: customs classification follows the factory, not the fitting shop. Gaari jaisi bani thi, waisi hi count hogi — bolted-on seats don't rewrite the tariff heading.