Court Upholds Decision on Imported Cars Confiscation Under Customs Act, 1962

The High Court upheld the Tribunal's decision in the case involving the confiscation of imported cars under the Customs Act, 1962. The court ruled in favor of the importers, stating that they could not be expected to produce a Type Approval Certificate that the relevant agency had refused to issue. The court applied the principle of lex non cogit ad impossibilia, emphasizing that the law cannot demand the impossible from individuals. The importers had made efforts to comply with the requirement but were unable to obtain the necessary document due to technical regulations differences. The appeals were dismissed based on the impossibility of meeting the condition.

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Issues:
Confiscation of imported cars under Customs Act, 1962 due to non-compliance with Type Approval Certificate requirement from an international accredited agency.

Analysis:
The appeals under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 were filed against the confiscation of two Toyota Lexus LS 460 cars imported from Japan by the respondents. The Commissioner of Customs had confiscated the cars under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962, citing non-submission of Type Approval Certificate from accredited agencies as per the import policy. The appeals challenged this confiscation, highlighting that the importers had applied to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan for the required certificate, but the Ministry refused to issue it.

Paragraph (7) of the Import Licensing Notes of Chapter 87 mandates the submission of a Type Approval Certificate from an international accredited agency at the time of customs clearance for vehicles meeting specific criteria. The Policy Circular No. 26 dated 09.02.2004 lists the accredited agencies, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan for vehicles imported from Japan. The importers were obligated to obtain the Type Approval Certificate from this specific Ministry.

The Tribunal noted that the importers had made efforts to obtain the certificate from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Japan, but the Ministry explicitly stated its inability to provide the required documents due to differences in technical regulations. The Tribunal applied the principle of lex non cogit ad impossibilia, stating that the law cannot demand the impossible from individuals. Given the circumstances and the Ministry's refusal, the Tribunal held that the importers could not be expected to fulfill the condition of submitting the Type Approval Certificate.

The High Court agreed with the Tribunal's decision, emphasizing that the importers had taken necessary steps by applying to the relevant agency and could not be compelled to produce a document that the agency refused to issue. The Court dismissed the appeals, highlighting that the Tribunal's conclusion was justified based on the impossibility of meeting the requirement due to the Ministry's denial. The Court also noted that referencing previous cases with different grounds was unnecessary, as the fundamental issue was the impracticality of fulfilling the condition in this specific case.

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