TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (2) TMI 1223
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....J. Writ Petition (L) No. 3223 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3398 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3421 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3422 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3726 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3753 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3768 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3782 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3882 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3909 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3917 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3918 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 3959 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4074 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4119 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4146 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4164 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4318 Of 2026, Writ Petition (L) No. 4322 Of 2026. For the Petitioners in all WPs.: Mr. Prakash Shah, Senior Advocate a/w. Ms. Lakshmi Menon a/w. Ms. Nirmohi Bansod, a/w. Ms. Anjali Chauhan i/b. Akash Menon,. For the Respondent Nos. 1 to 5 in all Petitions: Mr. Ram Ochani a/w. Niyati Mankad a/w. Ms. Priyanka Singh,. ORAL JUDGMENT (PER: G.S.KULKARNI, J) 1. As the issues involved as also the material facts relating to, all these Petitions being similar they are being disposed of by this common order. 2. The Petitioners in all these Petitio....
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....same for home consumption; g. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Writ Petition, to grant a stay of the proceedings initiated vide the Consultation Letter F.No. CUS/ APR/MISC/487/2026-GR-4 dated 28.01.2026; h. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Writ Petition, direct the Respondents to clear the goods imported vide the Bill of Entry No. 6801335 dated 09.01.2026 (Ex. 'A' to this Petition) and 6802018 dated 09.01.2026 (Ex. 'D' to this Petition) in terms of Section 18 (1) of the Customs Act, 1962 for home consumption on such terms and/or conditions as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper; i. Grant ad-interim reliefs in terms of Prayer Clauses (f) and (h) above; J. For such further and other reliefs as the nature and circumstances of the case may require. 4. On 9th January 2026, the Petitioner filed Bill of Entry No. 6801335 and 6802018 for the import of Prime Cold Rolled Stainless Steel Coils (Grades 304L and 316L), supplied by the said Malaysian supplier, availing the benefit of Notification No. 46/2011-Cus dated 01/06/2011. The goods were assessed to preferential duty under the "Agre....
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.... To, JAYESH METAL CORPORATION (IEC :0301015121) 110/112, 3RD MUMBAI~ 400004~ Subject: Availment of preferential duty exemption on the basis of Certificate of Origin issued in the name of M /s Bahru Stainless SDN BHD, Malaysia - reg. Gentleman, Please refer to the Bill of Entry No 6801335 and 6802018. dated 09-Jan-26 filed by you wherein preferential rate of duty has been claimed under Notification No. 46/2011- Customs, on the basis of Certificates of Origin (Form AI) issued in the name of M/ s Bahru Stainless SDN BHD, Malaysia. In this regard, your attention is invited to the following relied upon documents, which have been enclosed and form the basis of examination of the present case: i. DRl letter F. No. DRI/MZU/F/INT-05/2016 dated 26.03.2018 and subsequent communication dated 21.04.2023, wherein it was reported that during the verification visit to Malaysia, M/ s Bahru Stainless SDN BHD refused to share documents required for origin verification, rendering verification of originating criteria and value addition infeasible. It was further directed to denial of preferential benefits under Notification No. 46/2011-C....
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....r officer shall disallow the preferential tariff treatment for reasons to be recorded in writing. iv. Section 28DA(11) of Customs Act, 1962 provides that Where the verification under this section establishes non-compliance of the imported goods with the country of origin criteria, the proper officer may reject the preferential tariff treatment to the imports of identical goods from the same producer or exporter, unless sufficient information is furnished to show that identical goods meet the country of origin criteria. v. Para.16 of Annexure-Ill of Customs Tariff [Determination of Origin of Goods. under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of Member State of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Republic of India] Rules, 2009 provides that The importing party may request a retroactive check at random and/ or when it has reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the document or as to the accuracy of the information regarding the true origin of the good in question or of certain parts thereof. The Issuing Authority shall conduct a retroactive check on the producer/exporter's cost statement based on the current cost and p....
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....ubmissions, along with documentary evidence, if any, within 07 days, failing which the matter shall be proceeded with further in accordance with law./ This communication is issued without prejudice to any action that may be initiated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, the relevant exemption notifications, and the rules made thereunder. Digitally signed by Kirtikumar Parmar Date: 28-01-2026 14:19:30 (Kirti Kumar Parmar) Assistant Commissioner of Customs Appraising Group-IV, Import-I Navi Mumbai Encl: As above 10. It further appears that the Additional Commissioner of Customs, New Custom House, Mumbai Customs Zone, addressed a communication dated 16th January 2025 to the Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Mumbai Zonal Unit, seeking guidance in respect of the pending consignments manufactured by M/s. Bahru Stainless SDN. BHD., Malaysia. A copy of the said communication is annexed to the Petition (at page 133). 11. On the aforesaid premise, the Respondents have declined clearance of the goods to the Petitioners. In these circumstances, the Pet....
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....ial duty, such claim is required to be examined strictly in the light of the observations and issues raised in the Consultation Letter. Insofar as the case of Amanat Steels Pvt. Ltd. is concerned, Mr. Ochani submits that clearance was inadvertently granted. As regards Marino Inox Engineering Company, it is contended that the said importer falls under a different Commissionerate, hence the same would not be relevant to the facts of the present case. Mr. Ochani has further placed reliance on the provisions of Section 28DA of the Customs Act, 1962, in support of the Department's action. 15. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties. With their assistance we have also perused the record. In our opinion, provisional clearance of the goods in question would be in the interest of justice, particularly when the Petitioners undertake to secure the differential duty, if any, by furnishing a Bank Guarantee. The following discussion would support our conclusion: 16. It is not in dispute that in respect of the consignments supplied by the same foreign supplier, namely M/s. Bahru Stainless SDN. BHD., clearance of the goods for domestic consumption was granted to Amanat Stainless St....
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.... Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Governments of Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Republic of India) Rules, 2009 read with CAROTAR, 2020, the Department's claim would ultimately be for recovery of the full customs duty. Such potential liability if any is, in fact, being adequately secured by the Petitioners through the proposed Bank Guarantee. 20. In this view of the matter, we are of the opinion that provisional release of the goods would serve the interest of justice. Failing such release, serious prejudice would be caused to the Petitioners, particularly as the goods are incurring demurrage due to continued detention. It is also relevant, that as of date, no adjudicatory proceedings have been initiated by issuance of a show cause notice to any of the Petitioners. 21. We may further observe that, considering the contents of the Consultation Letter(supra) and more particularly the materials as referred therein pertain to the year 2018, it was open to the Department to expeditiously verify the credentials of the supplier, especially in light of the applicable provisions of CA....