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2019 (8) TMI 789 - HC - CustomsUnconditional Release of imported goods detained illegally - time limitation - it is alleged that SCN not issued within 6 months of detention of goods - scope of the second proviso to Section 110 (2) of Customs Act - HELD THAT:- It appears to the Court that the legislative intent was to ensure that the person whose goods are seized is not left in a state of uncertainty, with neither the goods being released nor an SCN being issued despite six months having elapsed since the date of seizure. The second proviso states that where any provisional release of the seized goods is ordered under Section 110A of the Act, then the specified period of six months, as indicated in Section 110 (2) of the Act, would not apply. This is only to make sure that at least there is a provisional release of the seized goods as quickly as possible. In the present case, a valuable right might have accrued to the Petitioner for unconditional release of the goods if no provisional release order had been passed before the expiry of six months from the date of seizure of the goods. In such event, the Petitioner could have argued that the valuable right accrued to the Petitioner cannot be taken away by passing a provisional release order beyond the period of six months from the seizure of the goods - the second proviso did not take away what was already available to the Petitioner. In that sense, the second proviso in the present case cannot be said to have applied retrospectively in order to deprive the Petitioner of a valuable right that had accrued to the Petitioner. The court is unable to accept the plea of the Petitioner for unconditional release of the goods in question - Petition dismissed.
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