Undervaluation cannot be a ground for refusing permission to re-export freely importable goods.

The Order of the Court is as follows :-

The above two writ petitions are filed by the petitioner against the very same respondents.W.P. No. 1285 of 2001 is filed for issuance of writ of mandamus directing the respondents 2 and 3 to order provisional release of the imported goods detained at Central Warehousing Corporation, Coimbatorerelating to assessed Bill of Entry No. 111, dated 4-10-2000 and 654 rolls ofPU sheets detained at the petitioner's godowninBhiwandi, Mumbai.

2.W.P. No. 1286 of 2001 is filed for issuance of writ of mandamusdirecting the respondents 2 and 3 to permit the 5th respondent for re-export of 8 containers arrived at Cochin Port on 14-10-2000 fromKoreaat the cost of the petitioner.

3.The brief facts of the case are as follows:

The petitioner imported during thelastone year 35 consignments ofPolyurethane(PU) sheets and Poly Vinyl Chloride(PV)sheets used as foot wear insoles through Cochin Port and the containers were transshipped from Cochin Port to Inland Container Depot(ICD)at Coimbatore.

4.It is thefurther case of the petitioner thatPU sheets andPVsheets are mainly imported from Taiwan and China that the quality of the goods importedfromTaiwan will be superior and consequently the price will be almost double to the price of the goods imported from China, that however during the last one year the price of the goods are constant, that if the goods are imported from China, the price will be 0.30 US $ and if the same are from Taiwan, the price will be 0.65 US $ per metre length.

5.It is the case ofthe petitioner that the clearing agent of the petitioner filed Bill ofEntry No. 111, dated 4-10-2000 before theCustoms authority atICD, Coimbatore;that the same wasassessedafter proper examination of the goods and verification of the relevant documents like, Bill of Lading, Foreign Supplier Invoiceetc.and the petitioner paid the assessed customs duty and got the goods released that the petitioner stored the goods at Central Warehousing Corporation, Coimbatoreon 4-10-2000 itself, that the very next day on 5-10-2000 the officers of the Central Excise Department, Coimbatoresearched the residential premises of the petitioner and the godownatBhiwandithat 654 rolls of PU sheets were alsoexamined andaftertaking sample pieces the 654rolls ofPUsheets at Bhiwandi godown were detained underMahazaron 6-10-2000 by the 6th respondent on instructions from the 3rd respondent that the officers attached to the 3rd respondent the Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) Coimbatore, detained the goods imported under Bill of Entry No. 111, dated 4-10-2000 kept at CentralWarehousing Corporation, Coimbatore on 27-11-2000.

6.It is the further case of the petitioner that on 14-10-2000 the consignments of goods imported from Taiwan arrived at Cochin Port that the 5th respondent at the instance of the 3rd respondent not only refused to transship the containers toICDCoimbatore but also detained them at Cochin Port that the request of the petitioner to transship the container to ICDCoimbatorewere not considered by the 5th respondent and the request of the shippinglines, steamer agents and the distributors to re-export the containers for the reason of incurring heavy demurrage, ground rent and deterioration of the qualityof the items is of no avail, that after prolonged request and approach of the concerned authorities the petitioner by their letter dated 23-11-2000 requested the second respondent to provisionally release the goods detained which aresubject matter of Bill of Entry dated 4-10-2000, that only after that aMahazarhas been prepared and a detention order was made on 27-11-2000 that again by letter dated 29-11-2000the petitioner requested for provisional release, which was followed by another letter dated 8-12-2000 but of no avail, that on 22-12-2000, the 4th respondent issued a communication statingthatthe duty has been paid adopting the assessable value at 1.02 US $ per metre and for release of the goods, the4th respondent di