9911796707
TMI Blog2025 (1) TMI 1385X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ents waive service. With the consent of parties, Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally. 2. The above Writ Petition is filed seeking a direction to Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to forthwith accept the amendment made by Respondent Nos. 5 and 6 in 50 shipping bills filed by the Petitioner appearing on ICEGATE, and to use the flag "Y" under the head "REWARD" against the said 50 shipping bills and grant the "Merchandise Exports from India Scheme" ("MEIS") Scrips amounting to Rs. 57,85,111/-. 3. This relief is sought in the context of 50 shipping bills filed for exports by the Petitioner between 2015 to 2018. In these shipping bills, inadvertently, the Petitioner's Customs brokers and staff declared that the Petitioner did not intend to cl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... istake was realized, on 27th April 2018, the Petitioner requested the Deputy Commissioner [Respondent No. 6] to amend the said 50 shipping bills in terms of Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962. Due to the inaction on the part of the Deputy Commissioner, the Petitioner herein, on 1st April 2021, filed Writ Petition No. 518 of 2021. This Writ Petition was disposed of on 16th November 2021 directing the Deputy Commissioner of Customs to decide the Petitioner's representation within three weeks and pass a reasoned order. 6. Once this was the direction given by the Court, the Deputy Commissioner, on 1st December 2021, rejected the Petitioner's request for amending the said 50 shipping bills. Being aggrieved by the decision of the Deputy Commis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the CESTAT dated 15th December 2022, the Customs Department filed an appeal in this Court being Customs Appeal No. 26 of 2024. This Appeal was filed on 22nd August 2023 and ultimately withdrawn on 7th August 2024. In the interregnum, on 1st July 2024, an email was sent by the Petitioner requesting the DGFT to permit access to its portal. Even Respondent No. 6, on 19th July 2024, requested the Deputy Director, ICES, for transmission of the amended shipping bills from ICEGATE to DGFT. Since nothing was done, the Petitioner vide its letters dated 1st August 2024, 2nd September 2024 and 6th September 2024 requested Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to open the DGFT portal for filing the claim under the MEIS. In response to these letters, on 17th Septe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e applications of the Petitioner, that the Deputy Commissioner of Customs rejected the Petitioner's request, for amending the said 50 shipping bills. This order of the Deputy Commissioner was challenged before the CESTAT, which finally allowed the same [vide order dated 15th December 2022] and directed Respondent No. 5 to amend the 50 shipping bills from "N" to "Y" in order to allow the DGFT to process the applications of the Petitioner under the MEIS. Though this order was passed as far back as on 15th December 2022, nothing was done by any of the Respondents and despite the advisory issued on 11th April 2023 allowing the transmission of shipping bills to DGFT for MEIS. 11. Once these are the facts before us, we are afraid that the DGFT t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of limitation arising out of the expiry of the MEIS was not squarely raised, the facts in this case would show that though the scheme had expired, reliefs were granted to the Petitioner. In fact, the DGFT had not even raised the issue of expiry of the MEIS being fatal to the benefits in those cases. We are of the opinion that this is a new and novel attempt to now deny the benefit under the MEIS to the Petitioner. 13. In view of the foregoing discussion, we direct Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to process the Petitioner's applications for release of MEIS scrips and if the Petitioner is found eligible for the issue of any such scrips, to release the same within 15 days from the date of uploading of this order on the High Court website. We hasten t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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