Oliva Care vs Asstt. Commr. of Cus. (Group 4), Chennai

T.S. Sivagnanam, J.—The petitioner seeks for issuance of writ of mandamus to release the goods imported vide Bill of Entry No. 7055756, dated 14-10-2014. The petitioner imported various decorative items fancy and gift articles such as plastic flowers, plastic gifts, plastic tree etc. and filed a bill of entry No. 7055756, dated 14-10-2014, for clearance of goods. It is stated that if the respondent are of the opinion that necessary clearance has to be obtained in terms of Rule 27 of the Legal Metrology (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, the same is incorrect as there is no legal requirement for obtaining registration under Rule 27 of the said Regulations and the goods are not in pre-packaged form and therefore, registration is not required.

According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the authority was prima facie satisfied that registration is not required in terms of the regulations, yet the goods were not released. Therefore, the petitioner through his counsel submitted a written representation to the Joint Commissioner of Customs (Group 4) on 3-11-2014 stating that the petitioner has incurred huge demurrage and detention charges and sought for release of the goods. Thereafter, another representation has been made on 6-11-2014 stating that there is no legal requirement to obtain registration under Rule 27 of the said Regulations. It is further stated that if in the opinion of the respondent that the petitioner have mis-declared, the respondent may detain the alleged offending goods and permit clearance of the balance goods.

In this regard, reference was made to paragraph 11 of Volume II of the Customs Appraising Manual, in which it is stated that when a given consignment comprises both offending and non-offending goods, placed separately, it is desirable to release the non-offending part of the goods and detain the offending part of the goods for the purpose of initiating adjudication proceeding.

By referring to the said provisions of the Customs Appraising Manual, the learned counsel for the petitioner stated that the balance of consignment may be released at the earliest, if the authority intends to initiate adjudication proceedings. Since the said request is still pending, the petitioner has approached this Court.

The learned counsel while accepting the notice on behalf of the respondent, has submitted that at this stage of the matter, the merits of the case cannot be gone into. But, if sufficient time is granted to the authority, the respondent will consider the petitioner''s representation dated 6-11-2014.

In the light of the above facts and the stand taken by the respondent, the respondent is directed to consider the representation of the petitioner dated 6-11-2014 on merits and in accordance with law within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The petitioner is directed to enclose a copy of the representation dated 6-11-2014 along with the copy of this order and submit the same by appearing in person before the respondent. With the above direction, this writ petition is disposed of. No costs.