Who decides what an imported good actually is? In the customs reference against M/s Naimatullah Steel Works (Pvt) Ltd (110 of 2022), the Sindh High Court (Justice Agha Faisal, author; Justice Shah Nawaz Memon) gave a definitive answer: not the courts, not the Tribunal — the expert Classification Committee.
The bench allowed the reference filed by the Director, Directorate General of Intelligence & Investigation (Customs), Karachi. The question of law was answered in the applicant's favour: no judicial forum is vested with the power to determine the classification of imported goods on the basis of a show-cause notice. Classification disputes belong to the Classification Committee — the expert body designed for exactly this technical task. The court anchored this in the Supreme Court's settled dictum in K.S. Sulemanji (2025 SCMR 121).
The impugned judgment was set aside and the matter remanded to the Classification Committee, with a copy of the order directed to the Customs Appellate Tribunal under section 196(10) of the Customs Act, 1969.
The practical importance is significant for importers and clearing agents. Classification determines duty rates, and duty disputes worth crores turn on technical questions — what a product is made of, how it functions, which tariff heading it falls under. Those are questions for technical experts, not generalist judges. If your classification dispute is being decided by a forum without that expertise, this judgment is authority for sending it where it belongs. Aur jahan maamla technical ho, wahan faisla bhi technical experts ka hona chahiye — courts decide law, committees classify goods.