Under S.R.O. 1141(I)/2026, published by the Revenue Division, the FBR intends to amend the Customs Rules, 2001, by inserting a new chapter establishing “Independent Case Scrutiny Committees” across the country. The draft has been opened for public comment, with objections or suggestions to be submitted within seven days of its publication in the official Gazette, as required under Section 219 of the Customs Act, 1969.
Once formalized, no reference to a High Court or petition to the Supreme Court or the Federal Constitutional Court could be filed by customs authorities without first clearing review by one of four proposed regional committees — covering the North, Central, South-I (Quetta/Balochistan) and South-II (Karachi) jurisdictions.
Each committee would be led by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court, or the Federal Constitutional Court, sitting alongside a senior advocate with at least 15 years of customs and tax litigation experience, and a serving or retired customs officer of grade BS-20 or above.
Their mandate would include vetting each case before a reference or petition is filed, periodically reviewing pending litigation to determine whether it should continue, maintaining a database of settled legal questions to guide future decisions, and flagging systemic issues that may require legislative or administrative fixes.
Committees would be expected to convene daily when cases are pending and to decide each case within 15 days, extendable by 10 more days. If a decision isn’t reached within that window, the case would automatically be considered cleared for filing. An expedited “emergency” track is also proposed for cases facing an imminent filing deadline or substantial revenue loss, with the committee chairperson empowered to fast-track approval, subject to review by the full committee within 30 days.
The draft rules also lay out compensation for non-serving members: chairpersons would receive a monthly fee of Rs1.2 million plus Rs25,000 per case (capped at 20 cases a month), while advocate and retired-officer members would receive Rs800,000 monthly plus Rs12,500 per case under the same cap. Serving customs officers on the committees would not receive extra pay beyond possible honoraria.
Members would serve one-year terms, renewable for a further year, and could be removed for corruption, conflict of interest, misconduct or breach of confidentiality after a hearing. Committees would also be required to publish anonymized annual summaries of their recommendations and submit yearly performance reports to the Board by March 31, covering litigation outcomes, revenue implications and recurring legal issues.
The notification was issued by Zubair Shah, Secretary (Law & Procedure), under reference C.No.2(7) L&P/2026.