SHANTI INTERNATIONAL, Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These Writ Petitions have been filed by petitioners seeking a Mandamus for the release of consignments and a further direction to the respondents to issue a 'Detention Certificate' for waiver of Demurrage and Container Detention Charges in terms of Regulation 6(1)(l) of Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations 2009.

(2.) The identical issue as arising in these Writ Petitions has been considered by me vide my order dated 27.02.2019 in W.P.No.4403 of 2019 (batch) in the case of M/s.Royal Impex V. Commissioner of Customs. The aforesaid order is applicable to the present case on all fours. The entire order is extracted herein for the sake of clarity:

(3.) Mr.G.Rajagopalan, learned Assistant Solicitor General intervenes in the matter to urge that the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the entity that has issued certain relevant Notifications, be made a party to the Writ Petitions. However, since the Writ Petitioners seek only a mandamus and do not challenge the Notifications itself, I do not believe that the DGFT is a necessary party to the proceedings. In fact, these very petitioners before me have challenged Notification dated 25.04.2018 by way of Writ Petitions in W.P.Nos.15921 to 15924 of 2018; Notification dated 02.07.2018 in W.P.Nos.17387 to 17391, 19684 and 18840 of 2018; Notifications dated 05.08.2017, 21.08.2017 and 04.05.2018 in W.P.Nos.21454, 21455 and 26486 of 2018 and Notification dated 28.09.2018 in W.P.Nos.26440 and 26433 of 2018 wherein the DGFT has, rightly, been made a party.