Delhi High Court Sets Aside ₹10 Crore Security Demanded By Customs For Provisional Release Of Seized Goods, Calls It ‘Onerous’
Coming to the rescue of an importer, the Delhi Excessive Court docket has put aside the safety of ₹10 crore (approx) demanded by the Customs Division for provisional launch of its perishable items.
Calling the situation ‘onerous’, a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta ordered provisional launch of Petitioner’s imported Roasted Areca Nuts on furnishing bond of Rs.4.10 crore together with a Financial institution Assure of Rs. 50 lakh.
The Division had claimed that the worth of products as per the minimal import value is roughly Rs 4.10 Crores.
Petitioner alternatively claimed the products to be price Rs. 1 Crore.
The dispute arose in September 2024 with respect to classification of the nuts. Petitioner claimed the products have been seized regardless of a ruling from Customs Authority of Advance Ruling that the products in query are to be labeled below CTH 2008 19 20- ‘Different roasted nuts & seed’ of Chapter 20 of the First Schedule.
The Division relied on check stories from Central Revenues Management Laboratory and submitted that the products could also be thought-about as ‘dried areca nuts’.
Because the items have been perishable, the Petitioner sought provisional launch which the Joint Commissioner allowed topic to situations as acknowledged above.
Modifying the situation, the Court docket noticed,
“The impugned order requires a private bond for greater than Rs. 4.10 crores together with a Financial institution Assure for a sum of over Rs. 5.81 crores i.e., the general safety demanded is nearly Rs. 10 crores. Even when the worth as acknowledged by the Division is considered, making an allowance for the worth of products itself, the situations for provisional launch are clearly onerous.”
Look: Mr. Arjun Raghvendra & Mr. P. R. Abhiram, Advocate for Petitioner; Mr. Anurag Ojha, SSC with Mr. Dipak Raj, Mr. Shashank Kumar & Ms. Garima Kumar, Advocates for Respondent
Case title: M/S Shreehari Ananta Abroad Pvt. Ltd. v. The Commissioner Of Customs Icd Patparganj
Case no.: W.P.(C) 8788/2025
