MALA PETROCHEMICALS & POLYMERS Vs. THE ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL, DIRECTORATE OF REVENUE INTELLIGENCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3965 of 2017 filed by the Petitioner, Mala Petrochemicals & Polymers, of which Mr. Manish Jain is the partner, seeks the following reliefs:

(2.) The factual background is that the Petitioner is engaged in the business of import of chemicals. The Petitioner states that it had placed an order over its foreign supplier, Rainbow Chemical Industry Limited, in China, for supply of ammonium sulphate industry grade for gross weight of 522080 kg for the value of USD 98,800 against commercial invoice dated 23rd Jan. 2017. In both the said invoice and the bill of lading ('B/L') dated 10th Feb. 2017, the goods were declared as 'ammonium sulphate'. The Petitioner filed a bill of entry ('B/E') No. 8911267 dated 16th March 2017 declaring the goods as 'ammonium sulphate' at the assessable value of Rs. 67,50,658.20.00. The customs duty payable was indicated as Rs. 15,42,525.40.00. This was also paid upon arrival of the goods. However, on the directions of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ('DRI'), the goods were detained on 22nd March 2017.

(3.) It appears that on 22nd March 2017 itself, the DRI searched the premises and godowns of the Petitioner situated at Village Bakoli and Hamidpur. They were informed that the goods found there included goods that were imported against B/E and were even domestically purchased. However, since the Petitioner was unable to produce documents for possession/import of the goods, the goods were seized by drawing up a panchnama of that date. Mr. that Manish Jain, partner of the Petitioner, was summoned by the DRI. He appeared before them on 30th March 2017 and produced documents.