Third-party export remittance cannot be denied where documents establish bona fide payment and link it to the invoice.

Where export proceeds are traceably received from a third party, the bank may not refuse to credit the exporter's account or withhold credit confirmation and the Bank Remission Certificate merely because the remitter is not the overseas buyer. The later RBI circular relaxed the earlier tripartite-agreement requirement if documentary evidence explains the third-party payment and the authorised dealer is satisfied about the bona fides of the transaction and export documents. Here, the shipping documents, SWIFT message and buyer's clarification linked the remittance to the export invoice, so the refusal was unwarranted and the petitioner was entitled to regularisation of the remittance and issuance of the requisite certificate.

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Issues: Whether the bank could refuse to credit the petitioner's account and decline issuance of credit confirmation and Bank Remission Certificate for a third party remittance received against an export invoice in the light of the RBI circulars.

Analysis: The circulars permitted receipt of export proceeds from a third party subject to regulatory safeguards. The later circular relaxed the earlier tripartite-agreement requirement where documentary evidence explained the third party payment and the authorised dealer was satisfied about the bona fides of the transaction and export documents. The export was evidenced by the shipping documents, the SWIFT message linked the remittance to the invoice, and the buyer clarified that the third party had remitted the amount on its behalf. In these circumstances, the refusal to honour the remittance and to issue the credit confirmation and BRC was unwarranted.

Conclusion: The bank was not justified in declining credit confirmation and BRC for the third party export remittance; the relief was granted in favour of the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the bank was directed to regularise the third party export remittance by issuing the requisite confirmation and BRC.

Ratio Decidendi: Where export proceeds are traceably received from a third party and the transaction is supported by documentary evidence and satisfies the regulatory bona fides requirement, the bank cannot refuse to acknowledge the remittance or withhold the export remittance certificate merely because the payment came from a person other than the overseas buyer.

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