The judgment emphasizes that when a relief is dependent on the question of title, and the issue of title is a disputed question of fact, the court should leave it to the relevant authority to consider.

JUDGMENT

M. S. Karnik, J. - This writ petition under article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks the following reliefs: -

'(a) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a writ of certiorari or a writ in the nature of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order and/or direction under article 226 of the Constitution of India calling for the record of the impugned Seizure Memo dated 9th January, 2020 of the Respondent No. 3, to go into the legality thereof and to quash/set aside the impugned Seizure Memorandum and Punchnama both dated 9th January, 2020 issued by Respondent No. 3 (being Exhibits 'a' and 'B' hereto);

(b) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a Writ of Mandamus, or a Writ in the nature of Mandamus, or any other appropriate Writ, Order or direction under article 226 of the Constitution of India ordering and directing the Respondent No.2 (their servants, agents and successor in office) to forthwith (i) allow the amendment of the IGM. Nos. 2239803, 2240493, 2240974 and 2241062 filed on 25th November, 2019, 7th December, 2019, 9th December, 2019 and 14th December, 2019 respectively to substitute the name of the Respondent No. 5 as the importer in place of the Respondent No.4; (ii) to cancel Bill of Entry Nos. 5862748 dated 28th November, 2019, 5987411 dated 7th December, 2019, 6005868 dated 9th December, 2019 and 6021988 dated 10th December, 2019 filed by the Respondent No.4; and (iii) permit the Respondent No.5 to file bills for entry in respect of consignments covered by Bill of Lading Nos. aGNJEaNSa00465 dated 20th November, 2019, aSCOKHLNSa1900054 dated 10th March, 2020, MSLJEaNSa2521 dated 15th June, 2020 and aSCOKHLNSa1900063 dated 10th March, 2020 respectively and to assess them in accordance with law;

(c) that pending the final hearing and disposal of the present Writ Petition, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to pass an order directing the Respondent No.3 (their servants, agents and successor in office) to forthwith release the said consignments, on such terms and conditions as the Hon'ble Court may in its discretion deem fit to grant in the circumstances of the case;

(d) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to grant costs of the Petition and orders thereon; and

(e) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to grant such other and further reliefs in favour of the Petition as may be deemed necessary.'

2. To appreciate the controversy, it would be apposite to set out the facts of this case in brief. The petitioner ('Rekhatex' for short) claims to be the owner of the consignment shipped to India from United arab Emirates. The consignment comprises Electrolytic Tough Pitch (hereafter 'ETP' for short) copper wire rods. The Bills of Entry (hereafter 'BOEs' for short), invoices of purchase, Bills of Lading (hereafter 'BOLs' for short) are in the name of the respondent no.4-importer ('Shine Metal' for short). Shine Metal submitted the BOEs for clearing the consignment for home consumption sometime in December, 2019. The respondent no.3 ('DRI' for short) was informed that Shine Metal is importing such consignment after availing concessions in customs duty and selling it in open market in breach of the 1999 Notification issued by the Customs Department. The goods are seized by DRI on January 9, 2020 and a panchanama is drawn.

3. On account of such willful mis-declaration, loss caused to the Government Exchequer is to the tune of Rs.13,79,61,991/- by way of not paying differential customs duty. Pursuant to the seizure, a request is then made by Rekhatex to the Customs Department to amend the BOEs, BOLs, the IGM and other related documents for substituting the name of the respondent no.5 ('Sagun Copper' for short) in place of Shine Metal, claiming that it sold the consignment to Sagun Copper. Rekhatex files this writ petition challenging the seizure and for further reliefs afore-stated.

4. according to Rekhatex, the manipulation is at the instance of Shine Metal with which it has no concern. as Shine Metal failed to make the payment and 'retire' (S