Retrospective import policy amendment cannot justify customs confiscation where no express retrospective effect is provided.

Customs authorities cannot deny clearance under an Open General Licence or confiscate imported goods by applying an import policy amendment retrospectively unless retrospective operation is expressly provided. The clearance dispute turned on the effective date of the amended policy entry, and the Court held that the amendment could not be enforced from an earlier date merely by implication. On that basis, the confiscation order and the appellate confirmation were unsustainable and were set aside in favour of the importers.

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Issues: Whether the customs authorities could deny clearance under Open General Licence and confiscate the imported goods by treating the amendment to the import policy as retrospectively effective.

Analysis: The clearance of the consignment turned on whether the relevant entry in the import policy could be applied with effect from a date earlier than the notification date. The Court held that an amendment cannot be given retrospective effect unless such operation is specifically provided. Since the authorities proceeded on the basis of retrospective application of the amendment, the confiscation and the appellate confirmation could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The challenge succeeded and the orders of confiscation and appellate confirmation were set aside in favour of the petitioners.

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