Imported vehicle testing condition remains valid as a regulatory safeguard for lawful road use and registration.

The testing and approval condition for imported motor vehicles before clearance for home consumption was held to be a valid regulatory requirement, not a redundant formality. It was applied to ensure compliance with the essential requirements for registration and lawful use on Indian roads, and the vehicle's prior registration under the Motor Vehicles Act supported that regulatory objective. The view taken by the Kerala High Court in Ankineedu Maganti was followed, and the challenge to deletion of the condition from the provisional release order failed because no substantial question of law arose.

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Issues: Whether the policy condition in Chapter 87 requiring testing/approval of the imported vehicle before clearance for home consumption was redundant so as to justify deletion of that condition from the provisional release order.

Analysis: The vehicle was seized on the belief that it was liable for confiscation under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962, and provisional release was considered subject to the conditions in Circular No. 35/2017-Cus dated 16.08.2017. The condition requiring compliance with the approved testing mechanism was held to serve a regulatory purpose, namely to ensure that imported motor vehicles satisfied the essential requirements for registration and lawful operation on Indian roads. The fact that the vehicle had already been registered with the competent authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 supported compliance with those requirements. The view taken by the Kerala High Court in Ankineedu Maganti was followed.

Conclusion: The policy condition was not redundant, and no substantial question of law arose; the challenge failed.

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