The court aimed to balance the interests of the petitioner Company and the respondents while ensuring compliance with the law and regulations.

RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.

1. The Adjudicating Authority constituted under Section 21 of the Special Economic Zones, Act, 2005 r/w Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 has vide order dated 21st December, 2011 imposed penalty of `66.30 crores on the petitioner Company and also suspended the Importer Exporter Code No.4606000066 of the petitioner Company, a Unit in Vishakhapatnam SEZ. The petitioner Company appealed against the said order to the Appellate Authority constituted under Section 15 of the Foreign Trade Act.

2. That the petitioner Company prior to imposition of the penalty aforesaid entered into an agreement for purchase on High Seas, of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) for a total sale consideration of `72 crores. The petitioner Company claims to have been unable to pay the said sale consideration and was thus unable to have the said imported goods released which are claimed to be incurring demurrage. The petitioner Company further claims that the foreign seller of the said goods has agreed to take back the said goods and the petitioner Company was thus required to re-export the same. However since the Importer Exporter Code No.4606000066 of the petitioner Company had been suspended, the petitioner Company was unable to. The petitioner Company in the circumstances applied to the Appellate Authority for revoking the suspension of the Importer Exporter Code No.4606000066 for the purpose of re-exporting the said goods.

3. The Appellate Authority vide order dated 23rd March, 2012, though permitted the petitioner Company to export/re-export the said goods but subject to conditions of securing the penalty amount aforesaid and against the imposition of which the appeal was pending.

4. The petitioner Company earlier filed W.P.(C) No. 1788/2012 impugning the imposition of the said conditions. The said writ petition was disposed of vide order dated 29th March, 2010 whereby the petitioner Company was permitted to submit alternative security then what had been demanded by the Appellate Authority.

5. However dispute arose about the acceptance of the said alternative security also and which led to the filing of the present petition which was disposed of vide detailed order dated 12th April, 2012. The interest of the respondents were sought to be protected by directing the petitioner Company inter alia to furnish a bond giving security of all the assets of the petitioner Company. The respondents were directed to furnish the draft of the bond to the petitioner Company.

6. Disputes have yet again arisen and in which regard this application has been filed in the disposed of writ petition. Notice of this application was issued and a reply thereto is handed over in the Court and is taken on record.

7. It is recorded in our order dated 12th April, 2012 disposing of the writ petition that the assets of the petitioner Company of which security was directed to be given in the form of a bond, are mortgaged with the State Bank of India (SBI) which is holding a first charge over the said assets. Notwithstanding the same, the goods (FAME) aforesaid were permitted to be exported on the security of the same assets, on twofold argument of the counsel for the petitioner Company. It was submitted that the penalty if ultimately found recoverable from the petitioner Company was recoverable as arrears of land revenue and which are recoverable irrespective of charge created in favour of any other entity, SBI in this case. It was secondly submitted that the dues of the SBI were secured not only by creating a charge in favour of SBI, of the assets of the petitioner Company but also by creating a charge of the personal assets of the Director of the petitioner Company and the dues now outstanding were much less than the combined value of the assets of the petitioner Company and the assets of the Director of the petitioner Company.

8. The crux of the dispute now, is that the respondents’ demand for an NOC from the SBI, for execution of t