Division Bench of the Bombay High Court held that an exporter eligible under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme(MEIS) cannot be denied benefit under the scheme on the ground of non-declaration of intent.
The judgment was pronounced by the division Bench consisting Milind N. Jadhav, J. and Ujjal Bhuyan, J , in the writ petition filed by Portescap India Private Limited, challenging the rejection of its applications filed under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme by the respondents on the ground of mis/non declaration of intent. Accepting the contention of the petitioner and relying on the decisions of the Madras High Court in Pasha International Vs. Commissioner of Customs, Tuticorn (2019(365) E.L.T. 669 (Mad.)) and M/s. Greenglobe Exports India P Ltd Vs. Asst. Commission of Customs &Ors.( 2018-TIOL-94-SC-MAD-CUS), the Court held that except for the inadvertent mistake of non statement of declaration of intent, the petitioner is otherwise eligible and entitled to the reward under MEIS.
The Petitioner placed its arguments on various rulings including Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd Vs. Deputy Commissioner (2002-TIOL-234-SC-CX) wherein it was held that the intention of the legislature under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme is to provide rewards to exporters to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs and therefore any procedural irregularity or mistake committed by the claimant cannot be a ground for denial of benefit.
Accordingly, various letters/orders issued by the Respondent No.4 rejecting the applications for reward/benefit under MEIS to the petitioner were quashed and set aside. Further, Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 were directed to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the petitioner within 4 weeks from receipt of a copy of the order, in respect of EDI online shipping bills which could not be amended to enable the petitioner to claim the reward under MEIS. The court also directed the petitioner to fill fresh application within 2 weeks from the date of NOC, which shall inter alia be considered and disposed by the respondents in accordance with law within a period of 8 weeks from the date of filing of fresh application by the petitioner. It has also been directed that Petitioner / its authorized representative shall be granted an opportunity of personal hearing before a decision is taken on the petitioner’s applications seeking benefit/reward under MEIS in respect of its shipping bills under FTP-2015-20.
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