The Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused to accept writ petitions contesting the denial of private warehouse license applications on availability of remedy under the Customs Act, 1962.
Justices Vivek Rusia and Gajendra Singh’s bench has refused to get involved in the show cause notice, which proposes to annul and put licenses that have already been granted on hold.
The petitioner/assessee, JMS Mining Pvt Ltd, is involved in the mining and production of coal in different parts of the nation. The petitioner applied for a license from the appropriate authorities under Section 65 r/w Section 58 of the Customs Act. After giving it careful thought, the authority concluded that a license to such a huge open mining area could not be issued, treating it as a godown. The petitioner was given a fair hearing before the ruling was issued, and the competent authority asked the petitioner for clarification on a number of issues. As a result, the application for a license was denied after due process.
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The petitioner claimed that the application was denied without proper understanding of the provisions of Section 65 of the Customs Act and the “MOORW Scheme” because the impugned order was rife with perversity and patent illegality committed by the respondents.
The customs department contended that the writ petition is not maintainable as the petitioner has remedy to file an appeal against the impugned order of Assistant Commissioner before the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 128 of the Customs Act, 1962, thereafter, appeal under Section 129 to the Appellate Tribunal and appeal to the Supreme Court under Section 130-E.
The court noted that order is appealable and the petitioner has a remedy of appeal against the order of the Assistant Commissioner under Sections 128, 129 and Section 130-E of the Customs Act.
The court ruled that the High Court should not have granted the writ petition under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution against the Assessment Order by granting the statutory remedy of appeal in a tax dispute when such a remedy is available. One law that offers a sufficient and effective remedy is the Customs Act of 1962. As a result, we see no justification for interfering with the contested order under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution.
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