UNITED NEWS OF INDIA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner being aggrieved by an order made by Government of India (Department of Revenue and Banking) on 4.6.1976 (Annxure-A1), has filed this petition.

(2.) In a nutshell the facts are that the petitioner deposited an amount of money with the respondent on 19.1.1974 in anticipation of payment of duty as it was likely to receive goods, which were dispatched from United Kingdom. The petitioner was anticipating delivery of 69 bales of paper. However, only 51 bales were delivered to the petitioner. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the authority under the Customs Act for issuance of "short landing certificate", which was issued to the petitioner only on 11.6.1974. It is on the strength of this certificate that the petitioner submitted an application for refund of the excess amount on 9.9.1974. This application was submitted in respect of 18 bales, which he did not receive and for which "short landing certificate" was issued by the appropriate authority. There is no dispute with regard to the aforesaid aspects.

(3.) The application of the petitioner came to be rejected on the ground that the claim for refund was received in the Customs House on 16.9.1974 while the duty was paid on 19.1.1974. In view of this, it was considered that the claim was made after the expiry of the time limit of six months prescribed in Section 27(4) of the Customs Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), and, the claim was rejected as being time barred. The petitioner failed at all stages and hence the writ petition.