Judgment No. SC 47/18 Civil Appeal No. SC 695/15 The first respondent is involved in litigation with the second respondent before the Fiscal Appeal Court concerning the reach and ambit of certain classification and tariff rulings on imported base stations for the purpose of calculating import duty. During those proceedings, the first respondent alleged that it was being discriminated against as other companies which also imported base stations in connection with the provision of mobile networks were taxed differently to itself. A specific allegation was made that the first appellant in particular had been accorded a privileged treatment based on its ties with the government. In the dispute between them the first respondent wished to be treated in the same manner as the first appellant. In order to prove the allegation, the first respondent made efforts to call as a witness on its behalf a former clearing agent who had been engaged by the first appellant to clear base station components imported by the latter. The first respondent claimed that the base stations in question were classified under the duty free tariff regime, and it required the witness to testify and show that the first respondent was being discriminated against in violation of its rights. On becoming aware of this intention the first appellant declined to consent to the agent testifying or producing any documents relating to the importation of the base stations. The first respondent as a consequence applied in terms of s 6(1) and (2) of the Fiscal Appeal Court Act, (the Act), for the leave of the court to subpoena the second appellant to appear before the court and produce documents relating to the clearance of the first appellant’s base stations. The second respondent’s counsel was not opposed to the issuance of a subpoena in relation to the second appellant. Neither appellant was before the court as they were not parties to the dispute. No papers, apart from the subpoena itself, were served upon them in relation to the