Petitioner not an importer under Customs Act; penalty on abandoned cargo unjustified sans Bill of Entry. Court allowed petition to avoid litigation delays.

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....The High Court held that the petitioner cannot be termed as an importer within the meaning of Section 2(26) of the Customs Act, 1962, as the petitioner neither satisfies the definition of importer nor has crossed the threshold u/s 46 to file a Bill of Entry for clearance of imported goods for home consumption. The imposition of penalty on the petitioner for the abandoned cargo cannot be justified in the absence of a Bill of Entry. Although the petitioner has an alternate remedy of appeal u/s 128, the High Court allowed the petition to avoid prolonging the litigation.....