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2010 (7) TMI 712 - GUJARAT HIGH COURTWhether the customs authorities have jurisdiction to issue any notice or to take any penal under Section 111, Section 113 and Section 114 read with Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962 against any unit situated within the Special Economic Zone - notified that Section 53 being limited to that extent of ‘authorized officer’, who was earlier empowered to perform certain jobs under Chapter XA, the power of the Customs authorities under the Customs Act, including the power to confiscate and impose penalty under Sections 111 to 114, as enumerated in Chapter XIV of the Customs Act, is not taken away - Thus, we hold that the competent authorities under the Customs Act are still empowered to confiscate any goods under Sections 111 and 112 and impose penalty under Sections 113 and 114, in appropriate case, even with regard to the units situated within the Special Economic Zone. Whether the report submitted by the Customs House Laboratory, Kandla will prevail over the report submitted by the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Ahmedabad and Chennai - the competent authority of the customs departments cannot take any action against the writ petitioners on the basis of the report submitted by the Customs House Laboratory, Kandla though it has power to take such action, as permissible under the law, if any irregularity is found pursuant to the report submitted by the CIPET, Ahmedabad or the CIPET, Chennai. The learned Single Judge, having failed to notice the aforesaid facts and the provisions of law and having erred in coming to the conclusion that the officials of the customs departments has no jurisdiction to take any steps in view of the Section 53 of the SEZ Act, 2005, we set aside the order passed by the learned Single Judge.
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