Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947

The Collector of Customs imposed a penalty on M/s Elephant Oil and Industries Ltd. for importing beef tallow, which was deemed a canalised item under the Import Policy. The importer argued that the Open General Licence (OGL) permitted the import and that the penalty was unwarranted after the goods were ordered to be re…

Oswal Agro Furane Ltd., a 100% export‑oriented unit licensed to manufacture furfural and edible rice bran oil, sought to export non‑basmati rice and to sell the rice bran oil in the domestic market, invoking Clause 15(j) of the Export (Control) Order, 1988 as a blanket exemption. The Delhi High Court allowed these expo…

The Assistant Collector of Customs intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 194 ingots of silver, suspecting smuggling. The accused were convicted under several statutes, including section 135(1)(a)(ii) of the Customs Act, 1962. The Bombay High Court set aside the conviction under the Customs Act, holding that the phrase …

Madan Lal Anand and two others were detained under section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) on allegations that they used benami firms to obtain duty‑exempt advance licences, imported polyester yarn, failed to export the goods as required and sold …

The respondent, Mis. Jesus Sales Corporation, was licensed to import brass scrap under a duty‑exemption scheme and was required to export a specified quantity. A show‑cause notice under Section 4‑M of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 led to a penalty of Rs 6 lakh. The respondent appealed the penalty and soug…

The Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports filed a complaint under Section 5 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 against Parle Bottling Co. Ltd. and its Managing Director, alleging contravention of licence conditions. The complaint was transferred to another magistrate court, where cognizance was tak…

The Union of India and the Collector of Customs appealed against a Bombay High Court order that allowed the exporter S.R. Dugar to re‑export four consignments of raw silk yarn. The silk had been imported by Ms. Renu Pahilaj under an advance import licence that was later cancelled. The licence required the silk to be us…

Roche Products Ltd, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, imported the raw material isoxamine under an Open General Licence after the two‑year period permitted by its industrial licence for the manufacture of sulphamethoxazole (SMX) had expired. The company declared itself an "Actual User" and that its registration was not ca…

Oswal Spinning & Weaving Mills Ltd imported 58 bales of woollen rags, which Customs officials later identified as acrylic rags and confiscated under the Customs Act. The importer was offered the option to pay a redemption fine under section 125; the fine was reduced by the Board and the goods were ordered to be mutilat…

The Union of India appealed against the Bombay High Court's order that set aside the customs collector's confiscation of prohibited goods and the vessel MANSC0‑3 under Sections 111(d), 111(f) and 115(2) of the Customs Act, 1962. The High Court had held that the vessel's arrival time for the 24‑hour import‑manifest dead…

Priyanka Overseas Pvt. Ltd. imported 10,681.832 metric tonnes of palm kernel from Nigeria in 1987 under an Open General Licence (OGL). The Customs authorities treated palm kernel as a canalised item, confiscated the goods and imposed a redemption fine and penalty. The company argued that palm kernel is distinct from pa…

The Union of India sought payment under bank guarantees issued by exporters for extra‑long‑staple cotton exports. The guarantees, dated 31‑Jan‑1996, contained a clause that extinguished the bank's liability if a claim was not made within three months of the guarantee's expiry. The Textile Commissioner invoked the guara…

The appellants, Jain Exports Pvt. Ltd. and others, imported two consignments of refined industrial coconut oil in 1982 under an Open General Licence, but the 1980‑81 Import Policy listed coconut oil as a canalised item that could be imported only through the State Trading Corporation. The Customs Collector ordered conf…

MJ Exports Ltd., a recognised trading house, imported haemodialysers from West Germany under an Open General Licence (OGL) for "stock and sale" and cleared them for "home consumption" free of duty. The goods were repacked in India and exported to the USSR. Customs detained the goods, deeming the re‑export impermissible…

The appellant, a stone‑processing firm, imported calcareous stone slabs from Italy, obtaining certificates and expert reports that the material was not marble. Customs seized the goods, classifying them as "marble" under tariff entry 25.15 and the restricted item 62 of the Import‑Export Policy, and ordered confiscation…

The respondent, R.K. Uppal, a senior manager of Oriental Bank of Commerce, was dismissed after a departmental inquiry found him guilty of misconduct. He appealed the dismissal under Regulation 17 of the Bank's Discipline and Appeal Regulations, 1982, also seeking a personal hearing, but the appellate authority denied t…

The case arose from a complaint filed by the Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports alleging that several directors of Jain Sudh Vanaspati Ltd. conspired to illegally import beef tallow in violation of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 and Section 120B of the IPC. The Delhi High Court, invoking Sectio…

M/s. Grand Prime Ltd. imported raw silk and other silk products into Kolkata using an advance licence that was later found to be forged and was subject to a condition of re‑export. The importer failed to comply with the re‑export condition, did not appear before customs, and did not file a bill of entry, prompting the …

The Supreme Court examined a batch of six appeals concerning the taxability of Replenishment Licences (REP licences) and the Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme under various State sales tax statutes. The appellants argued that the three‑judge decision in Vikas Sales Corporation v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes,…

The Collector of Customs appealed against the CEGAT order that had accepted the importer’s declared price for zip rolls as the transaction value despite the importer’s forged certificate of North Korean origin. The Supreme Court held that Rules 3 and 4 of the Customs Valuation Rules presume a genuine transaction value …

The Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports filed complaints against Roshanlal Agarwal and others under several IPC sections and Section 5 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947. The complaints were tried before a Special Court (Economic Offences) constituted by a Karnataka notification that created a Ju…

Raj Prakash Chemicals Ltd., the sole Indian manufacturer of acrylic ester monomers, challenged the grant of Additional Licences to diamond exporters that allowed import of those monomers despite their being placed in the "Limited Permissible" list under the Import Policy 1985‑88. The core issue was the meaning of "spec…

The respondent, a class‑I civil contractor, completed work on the Koyna Hydro Electric Project funded by the World Bank and claimed duty drawback as a "deemed export" under the Exim Policy 1992‑1997. After multiple rejections by the DGFT, a Policy Interpretation Committee in 2002 allowed the drawback, which was paid in…

The State of Maharashtra charged three men with attempting to smuggle 43 silver ingots out of India, violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the Imports and Exports (Control) Act and the Customs Act. The accused, who were the driver of a jeep, the driver of a truck and a cleaner, argued that they were unaware of…

The Union of India appealed against two Bombay High Court judgments that had ordered the revalidation and endorsement of imprest licences held by Suksha International and Nutan Gems, recognised export houses for importing uncut diamonds. The respondents claimed that after fulfilling their export obligations they were e…

The Supreme Court examined whether the freely transferable "replenishment licences" (R.E.P. licences) and later "Exim Scrips" issued under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 constitute "goods" for the purpose of state sales‑tax statutes. The Court held that these licences have an independent market value, are …

The Supreme Court examined the validity of a series of "abeyance circulars" issued under clause 8B of the Imports (Control) Order, 1955, which placed the licence applications of Liberty Oil Mills and 60 other concerns in abeyance pending investigation into alleged illegal import of beef tallow. The petitioners contende…