Decision Overturned: No Objection Certificate Ordered for MEIS Benefits, Incentives to Follow Upon Shipping Bills Verification.

The HC quashed the sixth respondent's decision denying MEIS benefits for 44 shipping bills due to an omission in the declaration. The court directed the third and fourth respondents to issue a no objection certificate within three weeks, allowing the petitioner to claim MEIS benefits from DGFT, contingent upon proving the authenticity of the shipping bills. The fifth respondent must then pass incentive orders within three weeks. The writ petition was disposed of without costs, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.

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Issues:
Challenge against decision denying Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) benefit based on omission in shipping bill declaration.

Analysis:
The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging the decision of the sixth respondent to deny MEIS benefits for 44 shipping bills due to an omission in declaring intent on the online platform. The petitioner claimed that the goods exported were eligible for MEIS benefits but inadvertently failed to select 'Yes' for the scheme during filing. The petitioner later sought to amend the shipping bills to claim the incentive, citing inadvertence as the reason for the initial omission. The sixth respondent rejected the application, stating the petitioner did not provide sufficient reasons for the omission. The petitioner argued that due to the prevailing E.D.I. system, corrections could not be made, similar to a previous judgment allowing corrections in manual systems under Section 149 of the Customs Act.

The court considered previous judgments in similar cases where corrections were allowed for inadvertent mistakes. The petitioner's counsel cited specific cases where corrections were permitted due to manual system limitations. The court agreed that the petitioner's case of inadvertent omission aligned with the facts of the referenced judgments, emphasizing the inability to rectify errors in the E.D.I. system. However, the court noted that the petitioner must prove the genuineness of the 44 shipping bills to claim MEIS benefits successfully.

The court quashed the decision of the sixth respondent and directed the third and fourth respondents to issue a no objection certificate to the fifth respondent within three weeks. This certificate would enable the petitioner to claim MEIS benefits from DGFT, subject to proving the authenticity of the shipping bills. Upon receiving the no objection certificate, the fifth respondent was instructed to pass incentive orders in favor of the petitioner within three weeks. The writ petition was disposed of without costs, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.

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