JUDGMENT :

1. These Writ Petitions are filed seeking police assistance to remove “Foreign Import Containers” owned by the respective petitioners, bonded with the Customs Department and lying in the Container Yard owned by the 4th respondent at Binanipuram, Ernakulam.

2. W.P. (C) No. 34460 of 2019 is filed by Maersk Line India Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act and acting as the steamer agent in India of Maersk Line A/S. They state that they are the owners of about 246 containers, the details of which are mentioned in the list produced as Exhibit P1 in the writ petition and lying in the Container Freight Station (CFS).

3. W.P. (C) No. 1366 of 2020 is filed by Star Shipping Services (India) Pvt. Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act and acting as the steamer agent in India of M/s Gold Line Shipping Company, a company headquartered in Hong Kong. It is asserted in the writ petition that about 4 containers owned by the petitioner are lying in the CFS.

4. As the issues raised in both the matters are interrelated, both these writ petitions are taken up and disposed of by a common judgment. For the sake of clarity and convenience, reference to parties and