DATO.S.PRAKADEESH KUMAR Vs. SUPERINTENDENT OF CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners herein apprehending arrest in OR No.5/2018 of HQ(Preventive)Unit Customs Preventive Commissionerate Kochi).

(2.) First petitioner is the son of the second petitioner. The first petitioner claims that he is the Director of a company by name Plus Max Duty Free (P) Ltd., which was awarded the licence to run Duty Free Shop (herein after referred to as "DFS" for short) in Trivandrum International Airport in an open tender dated 6/1/2018. He claims that he is a business man running a chain of such duty free shops abroad in various countries and he is stationed at Malaysia.

(3.) According to him, total business income of his entire business runs to hundreds of crores. According to him, M/s.Flemingo Duty Free Shop Pvt Ltd.was earlier holding monopoly in the above business in India. Since the petitioners intended to operate chain of such business in India, he had invested about 200 crores of rupees. According to the petitioners, M/s.Flemingo had challenged to retaliate by various methods, in connivance with the customs authorities. M/s.Flemingo initiated a litigation relating to the awarding of contract, which was taken up to the Supreme Court and the petitioners company was successful through out. However, they could commence the business in Thiruvananthapuram only on 3rd September 20187 after waging a long drawn legal battle against M/s.Flemingo.