https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783456 HC held that samples of imported Distillate Fuel Oil were drawn in violation of mandatory Section 144 of the Customs Act, 1962, as they were taken in the absence of the owner/importer and without any statutory or administrative authority permitting such procedure. The Court found the department's inconsistent treatment of samples collected at different locations unsustainable and held that both sets of samples were legally invalid. Consequently, the test report of the Visakhapatnam Laboratory, based on such samples, could not justify seizure. The seizure memo issued by the customs authorities was declared illegal and quashed, and the writ petition by the importer was allowed. en-us Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:28:20 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783456 HC held that samples of imported Distillate Fuel Oil were drawn in violation of mandatory Section 144 of the Customs Act, 1962, as they were taken in the absence of the owner/importer and without any statutory or administrative authority permitting such procedure. The Court found the department's inconsistent treatment of samples collected at different locations unsustainable and held that both sets of samples were legally invalid. Consequently, the test report of the Visakhapatnam Laboratory, based on such samples, could not justify seizure. The seizure memo issued by the customs authorities was declared illegal and quashed, and the writ petition by the importer was allowed. Case-Laws Customs Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783456