TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (10) TMI 258
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ion of India seeks a direction to the respondents to forthwith release and hand over the petitioner's vehicle, namely Thar LX manufactured by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited bearing Registration No.GA11A7700 unconditionally. The petitioner seeks a declaration that the withholding, detention and non-release of the said vehicle by the respondents, in the absence of any proceedings or orders, is per se illegal. The petitioner further seeks a direction to get demurrage, detention charges, ground rent, storage charges, container detention charges, warehousing charges or other consequential charges. 2. The facts of the case in brief are that the petitioner is a Russian national and a retired military veteran who has been visiting India since 2016 ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... onto a vessel at Bandar Abbas Port on 13th November 2024 and arrived at Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai on 17th November 2024. On 18th November 2024, the petitioner arrived at Nhava Sheva Port with all vehicle ownership details and temporary travel permits to claim the vehicle. However, the local delivery agent verbally demanded a sum of Rs.45 lakhs along with GST documents, which according to the petitioner was an arbitrary demand. When the petitioner approached the customs authorities, the respondents opened the seal of the cargo and, after inspecting the vehicle, orally demanded an exorbitant duty of 250% of the vehicle's value. Over the next 21 months, the petitioner personally met with the Commissioner of Customs and sent numerous letters an....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ts temporary placement inside a maritime cargo container for transit safety does not transform a domestic personal vehicle into an item of international trade cargo under Chapter VII. Assuming there can be a demand for Section 51 export clearance, the same may not hold good in the present case because Section 51 is a provision in Chapter VII which is applicable for commercial goods. Under Section 43(1) of Chapter VI, private conveyances carrying only passenger luggage are explicitly exempted from cargo reports and departure clearances. It is not the case of the respondents that the vehicle in question illegally departed from the Indian Customs at Sanauli. We do not find anything on record which would suggest that there were any compliances ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ting that they have never dealt with such a scenario and cannot bypass the portal's electronic fields. The petitioner says that he repeatedly requested the respondents to accept the vehicle's papers physically and allow a manual Bill of Entry filing, but this request was flatly denied, thereby failing to honour their statutory duties under the proviso of Section 46 of the Customs Act, which mandates them to allow the entry to be presented in any other manner. 10. In the present case, we find that the vehicle exited India on 5th July 2024 at the Sanauli Land Border checkpoint into Nepal. There is nothing on record to disbelieve the contention of the petitioner that the vehicle was used strictly for travel and carried nothing but personal ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e Indian borders. The vehicle was strictly used for personal travel and carried nothing but personal passenger luggage. 12. Learned counsel for the petitioner has stated that he intends to file a Bill of Entry but is systemically blocked from doing so because the ICEGATE software mandatorily requires a commercial Import-Export Code (IEC) and/or a GSTIN to process any electronic transmission. Considering that the vehicle is an Indian-registered asset and not a fresh foreign import, we are inclined to allow this writ petition in the facts of this case. Hence, the following order:- ORDER (i) The petitioner is permitted to file a Bill of Entry without the compliance of IEC and/or GSTIN. (ii) In case the electronic transm....