NEPC INDIA LIMITED REP. BY ITS DIRECTOR, MADRAS AND NEPC INDIA LIMITED REP. BY ITS VICE CHAIRMAN MR. RAJ KUMAR KHEMKA, COIMBATORE Vs. THE UNION OF INDIA (UOI) REP. BY ITS SECRETARY MINISTRY OF NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES, NEW DELHI,

JUDGEMENT

(1.) W .P.No.12165/2001 has been filed seeking for the issuance of Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records pertaining to the impugned communication dated 25.5.2001 in No.6/315/97 -WE(PG) addressed by the Director first respondent to the second respondent and to quash the same and to forbear the respondent from in any manner addressing any such communications to any such persons or department, agencies, authorities, financial institutions etc., in future.

(2.) W .P.No.5187/2002 has been filed praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents to perform their statutory obligation in granting certificate of exemption of duty to the petitioner herein in terms of the notification and guidelines issued by the Government of India from time to time.

(3.) THE short facts of the case of the petitioner are: The petitioner herein is a manufacturer of wind turbine generators in India. The petitioner has been manufacturing wind turbine generators by using 90% of indigenous components and the remaining 10% of the parts are being imported from time to time for their various projects. The first respondent has announced various concessions viz., 100% depreciation and 100% income tax exemption. In the course of business they have received orders from Ashok Leyland Finance Limited, Madras for purchase of 30 Wind Energy Generators. The petitioner had placed a purchase order and imported the special bearings for the manufacture of the said wind electric generators. The said special bearings comes under the general exemption in item No.209 and attracts 5% duty if the certificate of the respondent is produced. Now Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C -WET) has been constituted for issuing of certificate for Indian manufacturers who have indigenised or are in the process of indigenisation. The petitioner also applied for the certification which is pending with C -WET, but the same was so far not given to the petitioner. Under the general exemption No.121A the petitioner can claim exemption on furnishing of certificate from the respondent recommending grant of duty exemption to the Commissioner of Customs. In case, the certificate is not produced, the Commissioner of Customs will not grant any exemption. In that event the petitioner is liable to pay duty like other importers. On 11.12.2001, the petitioner has submitted an application for duty exemption to the respondent enclosing the invoice, Air Way Bill and copy of the High Sea Sale Agreement. The goods have arrived at the port and are lying at the warehouse for clearance, hence it attracts demurrage and other charges. The petitioner has sent letters dated 5.1.02 and 11.01.2002 requesting the respondents to issue exemption certificate as issued for other manufacturers. The parts arrived at the port are vital for manufacture of the wind turbine generators and until it is released they could not comply with the agreement with the purchaser mentioned above. In the event of non production of the certificate, the petitioner is liable to pay additional tax to the tune of Rs.45 lakhs. The first respondent is also the Chairman of IREDA. The first respondent herein has issued a letter dated 25.5.01 to the 2nd respondent requesting them to stop extending any loan facilities or concessions to the petitioner and its group companies for their own projects as well as the projects of their customers. With the result, the petitioner had filed W.P.No.12165 of 2001 to quash the same. Due to the financial crunch, the petitioner was unable to cope up the commitments with the financial institutions including the IREDA/the 2nd respondent. The petitioner has re -scheduled his payments based on the order given by the Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd., on the hope that it would be a major revival order. There are more than 200 families directly and 500 families indirectly depend upon the petitioner company. Hence the petitioner has filed Writ Petition No.5187/2002.