In the year 1987, the F.E.R. Act was amended with a view to establishing adjudication process for deciding cases of offences relating to non-repatriation of export proceeds within the stipulated period and misuse of foreign exchange. Such offences are adjudicated by the Officers of State Bank of Pakistan, Banking Services Corporation in order to have better co-ordination and quick disposal. In pursuance of the amendment made during 1987 in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (with a view to establishing adjudicating process for deciding cases of offences relating to non-repatriation of export proceeds within the stipulated period and misuse of foreign exchange), the Central Board of SBP decided in 1988 to establish Foreign Exchange Courts at various Centers of State Bank of Pakistan (now Head Office and Field Offices of SBP BSC). Accordingly, Notification regarding appointment of Adjudication Officers and their territorial jurisdiction was issued by the Ministry of Finance on 11th August 1990 and the said Courts started functioning as from December, 1990.
Foreign Exchange Adjudication Department manages Foreign Exchange Adjudication Courts established under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. These courts are established all across Pakistan. These Courts adjudicate the complaints filed by the complainant i.e. Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FEOD) against the delinquent exporters and importers. Under section 23(F), all proceedings before an FEA Court are deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), and an FEA Court is deemed to be a Court for the purposes of sections 480 and 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898). FEA Courts also have the powers to impose penalty under section 23(B) and recover the same from the defaulting Exporters.
