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TMI Blog2023 (8) TMI 756X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... takes place under Section 30, the power of cancellation of the same under appropriate conditions has to be read into the said Section as well - The Bills of Entry are to be proceeded on by the importer. Since they themselves gave no objections permitting the cargo to be sold elsewhere, thus giving a go-bye to the goods being imported through Haldia, there is no bar to the Bills of Entry elapsing or being cancelled. Since there is no other allegation of any violation of law or any claims of dues or charges made by the Customs Authorities till date against the petitioner, and as the shipping agent and all importers have been impleaded in the present writ petition and have issued their consent by way of no objections , there cannot be any further impediment of releasing the vessel of the petitioner. In the present case, in any event, the Customs officials have not claimed any import duty from the petitioner till date. The ground of refusal was mere pendency of certain Bills of entry which have been waived by the importers themselves, by way of their no objections - In the present case, it is undisputed that the goods have not been put into the course of home consumption or wa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d May 30, 2023. 3. However, on June 6, 2023 and after the vessel had already carried the cargo safely up to the Sandheads of the Haldia Dock Complex on June 5, the broker M/s. Trimurti Group sent an email message to the petitioner, 2023, informing that they would not be able to sell the cargo and raised a quality dispute. 4. Again, on June 7, 2023, the said broker, on behalf of respondent no. 7, sent another email to the petitioner, repeating similar allegations. On June 17, 2023, the broker intimated the petitioner that no buyer was ready to accept the cargo. The petitioner, as such, is allegedly in serious distress and is incurring huge losses on a daily basis. Thus, the petitioner has decided to mitigate the enormous losses by taking the cargo elsewhere for the purpose of selling, at least for a salvage price. Thus, the petitioner pleads extreme urgency and seeks directions on the respondent-Authorities to permit the vessel to sail out of the Haldia Anchorage for discharging cargo at Tuticorin, another destination where the petitioner has had preliminary negotiations for sale of the cargo. Since the nature of the goods is perishable, the petitioner is in further risk of lo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tine (Regulations of Import into India) Order, 2003. 11. Learned counsel for the Customs Authorities places reliance on Section 46(4A), Clause (c) to argue that an importer presenting a bill of entry shall ensure compliance with restrictions/prohibitions under any law for the time being in force. 12. Learned counsel also places reliance on Sections 111 and 112 of the Customs Act, which provide for confiscation of improperly imported goods and penalty for improper importation of goods. 13. Under Section 141 of the said Act, it is argued, conveyances and goods in a Customs area are subject to control of officers of Customs. Customs Area , as defined in Section 2(11) of the Customs Act, means the area of a customs station or a warehouse and includes any area in which imported goods or export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by Customs Authorities. 14. Hence, it is argued, the petitioner does not have any right to insist upon permission to leave the shores of the Haldia Dock Complex. 15. Upon hearing learned counsel for the parties, certain Sections of the Customs Act, 1962 acquire relevance to the adjudication. 16. Section 2(23) defines import to mean br ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... who filed the Bills of entry. In each of such no objections, annexed between pages 122 and 124 of the writ petition, the respective proposed importers clarify that they are unable to take delivery of the subject cargo due to unforeseen circumstances. As such, if the shipper wants to sell the cargo of the subject BL and Line numbers to any other party, they have no objection to the same. Hence, the importers themselves are agreeable to cancel the Bills of exchange. 24. Thus, the refusal of the Customs Authorities to grant permission to the petitioner on the ground of 20 Line numbers and Bills of Entry having been filed by the said three importers is patently invalid. 25. In any event, the Customs Authorities have no business to take up the cudgel on behalf of the importers insofar as the commercial considerations are involved, where the said importers themselves have no axe to grind with the petitioner. In the absence of any complaint by the said importers themselves and/or any specific allegation of contravention of any law, nothing in law empowers the Customs Authorities to withhold the vessel containing goods which are not put in the course of home consumption or warehousin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r Section 149 of the Act, the proper officer may, in his discretion, authorize any document after it has been presented in the customs house to be amended. No amendment of a Bill of entry or shipping bill or bill of export shall be so authorized to be amended after the imported goods have been cleared for home consumption or deposit in a warehouse under the proviso to the said Section. Since there is no clearance in the present case for home consumption or deposit in warehouse, reliance on the said provision by the Customs Authorities is also misplaced. 33. As discussed above, the refusal to grant permission to the petitioner to leave the Sandheads of Haldia and/or the anchorage of the Haldia Dock Complex are entirely misplaced and de hors the law. 34. It is required to be mentioned here that Section 30 of the Act empowers the issuance of Import Manifest. Although there is no specific provision in the Act for cancellation of the same, it is well-settled that in the absence of power of cancellation having been vested in the authorities, the same has to be read into the powers of the issuing authority. The delivery of import manifest or import report and issuance of the same, s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , the Customs officials have not claimed any import duty from the petitioner till date. The ground of refusal was mere pendency of certain Bills of entry which have been waived by the importers themselves, by way of their no objections as discussed above. 42. Here, a public notice, bearing no. 06/2013 dated November 7, 2013 issued by the Government of India, Office of the Commissioner of Customs, has been cited by the respondents. Clause 29 thereof speaks about short shipment, shut out, cancellation and back to town permission. Clause 29.1 stipulates that AC/DC (LCS) will give permission for issuance of short shipment certificate, shut out or cancellation of Bill of entry on the basis of an application made by the importer. The Bill of import particulars would need to be cancelled/deleted/modified in the system before such permission. AC/DC would check the status of goods before granting permission. 43. In the present case, it is undisputed that the goods have not been put into the course of home consumption or warehousing and are still on board the petitioner s vessel. Hence, the status of the goods is admitted. The no objections given by the importers have also not been c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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