The trial court had charged Asfandyar under Section 4 of Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, 1947 and also directed to confiscate local and foreign currencies. The Peshawar High Court set aside the trial court order to the extent of sentence but maintained it for confiscation of currency. Asfandyar, therefore, filed an appeal in the apex court against the PHC verdict related to release of amount.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, heard the appeal. Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mehmood who represented the State, argued that once a person is acquitted of the charge under Section 4 of Foreign Exchange Regulations Act, 1947, no order regarding confiscation of the recovered foreign currency could have been passed. He said the apex court has also passed the judgement in a similar case.
The DAG further pleaded that confiscation of the recovered foreign currency was legally possible under Section 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. The Chief Justice noted if the conviction and sentence of the petitioner for the relevant offence had been set aside by the High Court then there was no conviction and sentence of the petitioner left in the field for passage of an order regarding confiscation of the recovered foreign currency as an additional order.
The court set aside the trial court order regarding confiscation of the recovered foreign currency, which was subsequently upheld by the High Court. The court ordered that the recovered foreign currency shall be returned to the person from whose custody it had been recovered.