TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (10) TMI 833
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....ssification of the goods, which, according to the petitioner, is classifiable under CTH 20081920. The classification was subsequently amended as CTH 20081991. Out of the total 29 Bills of Entry, which were originally filed, based on the report given by the Food Safety Authority, 10 Bills of Entry were cleared without any hitch and in so far as the remaining 19 Bills of Entry are concerned, 13 have not been cleared in spite of receipt of the report; for four Bills of Entry, even samples were not drawn and not cleared; and the remaining two Bills of Entry were not cleared for different reasons. Hence, the petitioner is before this Court. 4. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs in the office of the Commissioner of Customs filed a counter affidavit on behalf of the respondents wherein they took the following stand : (i) Even though the petitioner had declared the consignment as roasted areca nut, based on the Intelligence Report, it was found that there was a possible mis-declaration of raw areca nut being imported under the guise of roasted areca nut in order to avoid prohibitions of minimum import price restrictions and also for evading duty. Accordingly, the samples wer....
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....0%, it corresponds to a roasted areca nut. (f) The CRCL, to which, the respondents have once again sent the samples, is a lower level lab since the initial report that has been given was by a referral laboratory, which is equivalent to an appellate authority under Section 46(4) of the FSS Act. This Court and several High Courts have repeatedly held that when the moisture content is below 10%, it corresponds to a roasted areca nut and every time the Customs Department cannot rake up this issue. Therefore, the respondents must be directed to release the goods. (g) To substantiate his submissions, he relied upon the judgment of a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Rawder Petroleum Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India [reported in 2025 (32) CENTAX 169]. 6. Per contra, the learned Additional Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the respondents made the following submissions : (a) The writ petition is premature since the investigation is pending and it is in the process of being ascertained as to whether there is any mis-declaration made by the petitioner after declaring raw areca nuts as roasted areca nuts in order to avoid prohibitions o....
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....there cannot be any objection on the side of the respondents to release the goods. 8. This Court has carefully considered the submissions of the learned counsel on either side and perused the materials available on record. 9. The petitioner has sought a straight forward relief for the release of goods covered under the 19 Bills of Entry. This is on the ground that the report given by the FSSAI would show that all these consignments are roasted areca nuts. 10. The counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondents to the effect that the investigation is pending and that therefore, the writ petition is premature. 11. During the course of arguments, the learned Additional Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the respondents filed the report given by the CRCL for all the 19 consignments. For proper appreciation, the same is tabulated as hereunder : S.No. BE No. BE Date Item Description CTH No.of containers Sample drawn by FSSAI Report CRCL Report CRCL Remarks 1 2919144 27.6.2025 Roasted areca nut 20081991 7 Docks Admin N/A 8.5 Partially dried A/N 2 3043956 03.7.2025 Roasted areca nut 2....
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....icitor General appearing on behalf of the respondents submitted that the report given by the FSSAI only certifies as to whether the food is edible and it has nothing to do with the identification of goods as roasted areca nut. 14. It is not necessary for this Court to deal with the above issue and render a finding since the report of the CRCL has already been placed before this Court. On carefully going through the said report, it is seen that except for two of the consignments, all the other consignments have a moisture content below 10%. 15. The CRCL has now categorized the roasted areca nut into dried areca nut. Wherever the moisture content is below 6, it is categorized as roasted areca nut and wherever it goes beyond 6, it is categorized dried areca nut. 16. It is not known as to the basis, on which, the CRCL is categorizing the areca nut as roasted areca nut or dried areca nut. 17. The First Bench of this Court, while disposing of W.A.Nos.3647 and 3648 of 2024 by a common judgment dated 04.3.2025, held as follows : "15. Therefore, as per the parameters fixed by the Authority for Advance Rulings, if the moisture content is between 10% and 15%, the same wou....
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.... as per the rules. No sustainable grounds have been made out by the department against the test-reports of First Lab, Gurgaon, nor any reasons have been forthcoming disputing the test results of the said First Lab, Gurgaon. This Court finds that the test-result obtained from First Lab for samples drawn by the department, immediately after its import, shows the moisture content of 'roasted areca nuts' to be 3.39%. The said test-report has been obtained for a sample, which was collected on 18.11.2024 and was received in the testing agency on 19.11.2024 and most importantly, the report was prepared within 5 days of its receipt i.e on 22.11.2024. Seemingly, the said report, which is the earliest report, appears to be the most authentic report meeting the guidelines of the FSSA as well as the Customs Department and this court finds no plausible reasons for denying the benefit of the said earliest and/or first report to the importer. 43. The lackadaisical attitude of the department in not following the established guidelines relating to drawing samples and sending for testing cannot be given concession to in any manner. Apparently, it seems the department indiscriminately drew s....
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.... 02.4.2025 has been stayed by this Court. Those goods cannot be kept inside the godown since they are perishable in nature. In a similar case, the Madurai Bench of this Court in W.P.(MD) No.17239 of 2025 passed an order dated 10.9.2025 [M/s.Genuine Spices Rep. by its Proprietor Shri Arshad Salam Vs. Commissioner of Customs, Custom House, New Harbour Estate, Tuticorin - 628 004] by directing the release of the goods by imposing certain conditions. 27. The learned Additional Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the respondents submitted that the said order dated 10.9.2025 came to be passed in a case where there was a provisional assessment. 28. On a reading of the said order dated 10.9.2025, it is not clear as to whether there was any provisional assessment in this case. 29. The learned Additional Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the respondents further submitted that for the 19 consignments, the duty payable along with interest works out to Rs. 2,24,33,60,198/-. A tabulated chart has also been filed in this regard. 30. Considering the facts and circumstances of this case and also considering the fact that the consignment that has been imported has a moisture ....