The judgment establishes the requirement of obtaining licences under the FTDR Act from the DDP and licence in `Form X' under the Arms Act from the DGFT for the import of arms and parts thereof.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J.(Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The Petitioner-Werywin Defence Pvt. Ltd. has filed the present writ petition seeking issuance of import licences in `Form X' format as per Rule 88 of the Arms Rules, 2016 (hereinafter `Rules') in respect of the licences that it has already procured from the Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence. The Respondents in the present case are Union of India-Respondent No.1, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Trade and Commerce - Respondent No.2, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police-Respondent No.3, M/s Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt. Ltd. - Respondent No.4 and the Office of the Commissioner of Customs-Respondent No.5.

3. The Petitioner is a company engaged in the manufacture of various restricted items including firearms, ammunition and parts thereof. It is the case of the Petitioner that it obtained seven licences from the DDP for import of restricted items from the U.S. and various other countries. The details of the said licences are as under:

4. In terms of the licences dated 24th December, 2021 and 18th April, 2022 at S. No. (1) and (2) above, the imports have already taken place and the imported products are lying with the Respondent Nos. 4 & 5. The said imports could not be cleared since the inspection that was to be carried out by the Delhi Police was not carried out. Vide letter dated 23rd September, 2022, Delhi Police had informed the Petitioner that since the application of the Petitioner was not accompanied by license issued in `Form X', the inspection cannot be carried out. Therefore, the imported products of the Petitioner continue to lie at the cargo terminal.

5. Vide order dated 19th April, 2022, the Court had permitted the Petitioner to make a representation for moving of the goods under the two licences to a recognized warehouse in accordance with Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962. The order dated 19th April, 2022 reads as under:

"3. Ld. counsel for the Petitioner highlights the fact that the Petitioner is incurring high demurrage charges in the IGI Airport. Ld. Counsel appearing for Respondent No. 5-The office of the Commissioner of Customs submits that an application maybe moved by the Petitioner under Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962 for shifting the goods to a warehouse. Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962 reads as:

"49. Storage of imported goods in warehouse pending clearance or removal.--Where,--

(a) in the case of any imported goods, whether dutiable or not, entered for home consumption, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs is satisfied on the application of the importer that the goods cannot be cleared within a reasonable time;

(b) in the case of any imported dutiable goods, entered for warehousing, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs is satisfied on the application of the importer that the goods cannot be removed for deposit in a warehouse within a reasonable time, the goods may pending clearance or removal, as the case may be, be permitted to be stored in a public warehouse for a period not exceeding thirty days:

Provided that the provisions of Chapter IX shall not apply to goods permitted to be stored in a public warehouse under this section:

Provided further that the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs may extend the period of storag