In a recent ruling, the Madras High Court directed an expedited refund of the redemption fine and penalty due to an unjustified delay on the part of the Additional Commissioner of Customs to consider the case de novo.
In this case, the petitioner, M/s. Sterling Petrochem, was initially issued an order-in-original by the Additional Commissioner of Customs Chennai, which imposed a redemption fine of Rs. 5,30,000 under Section 125 of the Customs Act, 1962, and a penalty of Rs. 3,60,000 under Section 112(a) of the Customs Act.
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The petitioner, who was aggrieved by the above order, appealed before the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals-II). The latter set aside the impugned order and remitted the case back to the Additional Commissioner of Customs to pass a fresh order.
It is to be noted that no fresh order has been passed by the Additional Commissioner of Customs, as no time limit was specified. The petitioner has repeatedly requested action following the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals-II) Chennai’s directions dated 19.11.2020.
Thus the petitioner has approached the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus.
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After reviewing the submissions and affidavits from both sides, the High Court directed the respondent to process the refund claim filed on 31.01.2022 for the redemption fine and penalty paid by the petitioner as per Order-in-Original dated 02.07.2019.
The High Court bench composed of Justice C. Saravanan, further held that “ Needless to state, refund is without prejudice to the rights of the respondent to levy any fine or redemption fine independently pursuant to the remand order. “
The petitioner was represented by Mr. Hari Radhakrishnan and the respondent by Mr. Umesh Rao. K.
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