NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on the Customs Department's request to review a 2021 ruling. This ruling stated that officers from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence cannot recover duties on goods that have already been cleared for import by customs.
During the four-day hearing, a bench led by the Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.V. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, heared the arguments from the Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataramani, representing the Customs Department, as well as the Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who apperaed for private companies involved in the case.
Usually, the Review pleas against the judgements are considered in the Judges' chambers without allowing any oral arguments, but this particular plea was heard in an open court.
Venkataraman emphasized the historical integration of customs and DRI under the Ministry of Finance since 1977, arguing that DRI officers should be considered as customs officials capable of enforcing duty recoveries. Contrarily, the 2021 Supreme Court ruling, led by then Chief Justice S A Bobde, had held that a DRI officer is not “the proper officer” under the Customs Act to undertake such actions, leading to the quashing of several DRI show cause notices to private firms, including M/S Canon India Private Limited.
The case hinged on the legal interpretation of whether DRI officers could issue show cause notices under the Customs Act for the recovery of duties that were allegedly not levied or paid when goods were cleared for import. The judgment also addressed the issue of whether the Customs Act empowers recovery of duty not paid, part-paid, or erroneously refunded due to collusion or misstatements.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the private companies, countered the review plea by stressing the stringent criteria for reviewing Supreme Court judgments, which necessitate clear errors apparent on the face of the record.
