MEIS eligibility cannot be denied for a procedural shipping-bill omission where amendment is supported by existing export evidence.

An exporter who satisfied the substantive conditions for MEIS could not be denied the incentive because the EDI shipping bills initially reflected the default declaration "No" instead of "Yes". The Court treated the omission to mark intent as a procedural lapse under the Handbook of Procedures, not a substantive disqualification. It held that section 149 of the Customs Act permits amendment of shipping documents after export where documentary evidence existing at the relevant time supports the correction, and directed amendment of the shipping bills with consequential processing of the claim.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to claim MEIS benefit despite the shipping bills initially reflecting the default option "No" instead of "Yes", and whether amendment of the shipping bills could be directed under the customs law and the foreign trade scheme framework.

Analysis: The petitioner had exported notified goods covered by the scheme and satisfied the substantive eligibility conditions for MEIS. The only deficiency was the failure to mark the declaration of intent in the EDI shipping bills, which was a procedural requirement under the Handbook of Procedures. Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 permits amendment of shipping documents after export on the basis of documentary evidence existing at the relevant time, and the Court treated the omission as a technical or procedural lapse rather than a substantive disqualification. The Court also relied on the settled position that a valid export incentive cannot be denied merely because the electronic system or shipping-bill format did not capture the intended declaration, where the export and eligibility are otherwise undisputed.

Conclusion: The petitioner was held entitled to MEIS benefit, and the shipping-bill amendment and consequential processing of the claim were directed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exporter satisfies the substantive conditions for an export incentive scheme, a mere failure to record the declaration of intent in the shipping bill does not defeat the claim if amendment is otherwise permissible on the basis of existing documentary evidence.

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