2019 (12) TMI 1075 - HC - Customs

Import of Gold Coins - confiscation of the gold coins and imposition of penalty. - Notifications 24/2015-2020 and 25/2015-2020, dated 25th August, 2017, issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) - Public Notice No. 20/201-2020, dated 25th August, 2017 - HELD THAT - The confusion appears to have arisen owing to the challenging by the petitioner of Notifications 24/2015-2020 and 25/2015-2020, dated 25th August, 2017, and Public Notice 20/2015-2020, also dated 25th August, 2017, vide one writ petition, and the Show Cause Notice, issued in terms of the said notifications and Public Notice, vide the present writ petition - It was owing to this duplication of proceedings that this Court, under the impression that the Show Cause Notice dated 8th September, 2017 was not challenged, expressed its inability to quash the same. Mr. Amit Bansal, learned Senior Standing Counsel appearing for the Custom Authorities, very fairly does not oppose the prayer and acknowledges that, in fact, Show Cause Notice dated 8th September, 2017 has been challenged by the petitioner as well, in the present WP (C) 8205/2017. Impugned SCN is quashed - review petition allowed.

Summary

Issues:
Condonation of delay in review petition filing
Validity of Notifications and Public Notice
Challenge to Show Cause Notice

Condonation of Delay:
The High Court considered an application for condonation of a five-day delay in filing a review petition related to a previous order. The Court found reasonable grounds for the delay and granted condonation, allowing the application and disposing of the matter.

Validity of Notifications and Public Notice:
The judgment revolved around Notifications 24/2015-2020 and 25/2015-2020, as well as Public Notice No. 20/2015-2020 issued by the DGFT on 25th August 2017. The Court determined that these notifications were gazetted on 28th August 2017 and could not be applied retroactively to imports made before that date. Consequently, the imports of gold coins prior to the notifications' effective date were not subject to them, leading to the quashing of the impugned notifications.

Challenge to Show Cause Notice:
The review petition sought to challenge a Show Cause Notice issued on 8th September 2017 proposing confiscation of gold coins and penalties. The Court initially quashed the notice based on the belief that it had only been challenged in a specific petition. However, it was later clarified that the notice had indeed been challenged by the petitioner in the present petition. Acknowledging this, the Court quashed and set aside the Show Cause Notice, allowing the review petition and ensuring parity with relief granted to another party. The Senior Standing Counsel for the Custom Authorities did not oppose this decision, leading to the Show Cause Notice's cancellation.