Import restrictions on gold coins operate only from Gazette publication and cannot hit pre-shipment consignments.

Import restrictions on gold coins took effect only from lawful electronic publication in the Official Gazette, and could not apply retrospectively to consignments already dispatched before that publication. The applicable import date under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures was the date of shipment or dispatch from the exporting country, not the date of arrival in India. Because the goods had left Korea before the notifications and public notice were e-published, the restrictions were inapplicable and the petitioners obtained consequential relief, including discharge of bonds and quashing of the challenged notice where specifically assailed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the impugned notifications and public notice restricting import of gold coins applied to consignments that had left the exporting country before the notifications were electronically published in the Official Gazette.

Analysis: The import date for purposes of the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures was governed by the date of shipment or dispatch from the supplying country, not the date of arrival in India. The goods had left the Republic of Korea on 25 August 2017, while the impugned notifications and public notice became effective only upon electronic publication in the Official Gazette on 28 August 2017 at about 10:47 p.m. Section 8 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 recognized electronic gazette publication, and the cited office memorandum confirmed that the date of publication was the date of e-publication. On that basis, the restrictions introduced by the impugned measures could not operate retrospectively against consignments already dispatched before publication.

Conclusion: The impugned notifications and public notice did not apply to the gold coins imported by the petitioners, as the consignments had already left the exporting country before the measures came into force.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded, the challenged import restrictions were held inapplicable to the petitioners' consignments, and the consequential reliefs followed, including discharge of bonds and quashing of the notice in the petition where it was specifically challenged.

Ratio Decidendi: A notification or restriction affecting importability takes effect only from its lawful publication in the Official Gazette, and it cannot govern goods that had already been shipped before such publication where the applicable import date is the date of dispatch from the exporting country.

---