Unlawful detention of customs goods bars demurrage and ground rent until relief order, with waiver certificate granted.

Where confiscation, redemption fine and penalty were set aside with consequential relief, the continued detention of the goods was treated as legally unsustainable, and demurrage, detention and ground rent were held unrecoverable for the period up to the order. The customs authority was recognised as to issue a waiver certificate under Regulation 6(1)(L) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations, 2009 where goods are seized or detained, and waiver relief was granted for the past period. The petitioner was required to lift the goods within the stipulated time and bear charges thereafter, while the custodian's and other parties' civil rights were left unaffected.

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Issues: Whether, after the customs proceedings were set aside and consequential relief was granted, the petitioner remained liable to pay demurrage, detention and ground rent charges for the period from seizure/detention until the date of the order, and whether the customs authorities were bound to issue a waiver certificate for that period.

Analysis: The goods had been detained and later the confiscation, redemption fine and penalty were set aside by the appellate tribunal with consequential relief. On that basis, the detention of the goods from the date of seizure was not legally sustainable. Under Regulation 6(1)(L) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations, 2009, the customs authority could issue a waiver certificate where the goods were seized or detained, subject to law. Since the goods ought not to have remained under detention, charges for demurrage, detention and ground rent were not recoverable for the period during which the detention continued. At the same time, the petitioner was directed to lift the goods within a fixed period and to bear the charges from that point onwards, while the rights of the custodian and other parties in their civil proceedings were kept intact.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held not liable for demurrage, detention and ground rent for the past period up to the date of the order, and the customs waiver relief was granted for that period.

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