ESSAR SHIPPING LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Respondents waive service. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties taken up for final hearing.

(2.) This is a Writ Petition challenging the issuance of a show cause notice dated January 13, 2023 ('Impugned SCN') issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade ('DGFT') to the Petitioner, Essar Shipping Ltd. ('Essar') under Sec. 14 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 ('FTDR Act') and subordinate law thereunder. The allegation is that Essar availed of the benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009 ('FTP') by furnishing information, making declarations and relying on certificates, that were allegedly wrong.

(3.) For the reasons set out in this judgement, we hold that the Impugned SCN deserves to be quashed and set aside, since it is primarily based on a mis-reading of a judgement of a Learned Division Bench of this Court, in a Writ Petition filed by this very Petitioner, namely, Writ Petition No. 1335 of 2010 decided on February 8, 2022 ('DB Judgement'). In fact, the Impugned SCN is untenable by reason of the very decision of the Learned Division Bench, as would be seen from the analysis below.