Court Grants MEIS Benefits Despite Errors in Shipping Bills; Inadvertent Mistakes Should Not Deny Entitlement.

The HC granted the petitioners' request for MEIS benefits, despite procedural errors in 68 shipping bills. The court quashed the denial of benefits, emphasizing that inadvertent mistakes should not preclude entitlement. The respondents were directed to process the applications manually and award the MEIS benefits within eight weeks, with no costs imposed.

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Issues Involved:
1. Eligibility for MEIS benefits despite procedural errors.
2. Validity of amendments to shipping bills.
3. Entitlement to MEIS benefits due to inadvertent mistakes.

Summary:

Eligibility for MEIS Benefits Despite Procedural Errors:

The petitioners sought a Writ of Mandamus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging the denial of MEIS scrips due to inadvertent procedural mistakes in filing shipping bills. The petitioners argued that the default setting "NO" was not unchecked in 68 out of over 55,000 shipping bills, thus failing to claim the MEIS benefits. They cited several High Court decisions where similar inadvertent mistakes were rectified, and MEIS benefits were granted.

Validity of Amendments to Shipping Bills:

The petitioners approached Customs Authorities for amendments to the shipping bills, but their applications were rejected by the Policy Relaxation Committees, which stated that bills marked "NO" do not get electronically transmitted. The respondents argued that marking "YES" was mandatory, and failure to do so meant the shipping bills were not transmitted to the DGFT, thus making the petitioners ineligible for MEIS benefits.

Entitlement to MEIS Benefits Due to Inadvertent Mistakes:

The court referred to multiple precedents, including decisions by the Kerala High Court, Madras High Court, and others, which held that inadvertent procedural errors should not deny substantive benefits. The court emphasized that the benefit of MEIS cannot be defeated due to such procedural infirmities. The court concluded that the petitioners' inadvertent mistake of not ticking "YES" should not disentitle them from claiming MEIS benefits.

Judgment:

The court allowed the petition, quashing the decisions denying MEIS benefits and directing the respondents to accept the applications for MEIS scrips manually for the 68 shipping bills. The respondents were ordered to grant the MEIS benefits within eight weeks from the receipt of the order. The rule was made absolute with no order as to costs.

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