Bill of Lading date governs restricted imports, and customs detention triggers protection against demurrage charges.
The relevant date for reckoning import of restricted consignments was the Bill of Lading date, because the Foreign Trade Policy treated it as the controlling date for import and the Customs Act valuation date did not govern that question. Imports already in shipment under a subsisting stay could not be defeated by a later restriction, so the covered consignments were entitled to conditional release. Because the goods had been detained by customs authorities, the statutory bar on demurrage applied and the petitioner was entitled to waiver of demurrage charges and related detention relief.
Issues: (i) Whether the relevant date for reckoning import of the restricted consignments was the date of Bill of Lading or the date of Bill of Entry, and whether the consignments covered by the operative stay of the notification were liable to be released; (ii) Whether the petitioner was entitled to waiver of demurrage charges and a detention certificate.
Issue (i): Whether the relevant date for reckoning import of the restricted consignments was the date of Bill of Lading or the date of Bill of Entry, and whether the consignments covered by the operative stay of the notification were liable to be released.
Analysis: Regulation 9.11 of the Foreign Trade Policy treated the Bill of Lading as the relevant date for reckoning import. The policy regime governing the restriction was held to be a complete code for that purpose, and the date for valuation under section 15 of the Customs Act, 1962 was not controlling. The Court applied the principle that import restrictions cannot operate retrospectively to defeat transactions that had crystallised when imports were already in the course of shipment under a subsisting stay. On the admitted facts, the goods covered by Bills of Lading within the relevant period were within the benefit of the stay and were entitled to release, subject to conditions.
Conclusion: The Bill of Lading date was the relevant date for import, and the consignments were liable to be released conditionally.
Issue (ii): Whether the petitioner was entitled to waiver of demurrage charges and a detention certificate.
Analysis: Regulation 6(1)(l) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 prohibited charging demurrage on goods detained by customs authorities. As the consignments had been detained by the customs authorities, the statutory protection against demurrage applied.
Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to waiver of demurrage charges and consequential detention relief.
Final Conclusion: The writ petition was allowed in part with conditional release of the consignments and ancillary reliefs in respect of demurrage, while preserving the liberty of the authorities to proceed in accordance with law.
Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing trade policy fixes the Bill of Lading as the relevant date of import, a restriction introduced later cannot defeat shipments already crystallised under a subsisting stay, and customs detention attracts the statutory bar on demurrage.
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