JUDGMENT

Dr. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, J

1. Leave granted.

2 These proceedings have arisen from a judgment dated 27 September 2011 of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in a batch of writ appeals and original petitions, preferred by various shipping agents.

3. The question before the High Court was whether the liability to pay ‘ground rent’ on containers unloaded at Cochin Port, but not cleared by the consignees/importers and refused to be de-stuffed by the Port, on the ground of inadequate storage space, can be imposed on the owners of the vessel/steamer agents beyond the period of 75 days, fixed by the Tariff Authority of Major Ports [TAMP], a statutory body constituted under Section 47A of the Major Port Trust Act [MPT Act], 1963.

4. The facts of the case are summarized in the following extract of the judgment of the High Court:

“The sequence of events that led to the stalemate refers to the incidents which happened in 1998 when there (sic) imports synthetic woollen rags (in containers) in the Cochin Port Trust premises. The said containers were destuffed to facilitate Customs examination and to return the empty containers to the Steamer Agents. The destuffed cargo occupied much