The right under Section 110(2) of the Customs Act for unconditional release of goods is absolute and cannot be curtailed or prevented by the Department.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent against the order of this court dated 02.06.2016 passed in W.P. No. 34581 of 2015.)

R. Mahadevan, J.

1. This intra-court appeal is filed by the appellants / Revenue, assailing the order dated 02.06.2016 passed in W.P. No. 34581 of 2015, in and by which, the learned Judge has allowed the said writ petition filed by the respondent herein with a direction to the appellants to release the imported goods covered under the Bill of Entry No.8915658 dated 15.04.2015, within a week's time.

2. The necessary facts leading to the filing of this appeal are as follows:

2.1. The respondent/writ petitioner is engaged in the business of trading various commodities including electronic goods and spare parts, for which purpose, they import goods from abroad, besides purchasing locally. They obtained Import Export Code No. 0413045153 from the office of the Director General of Foreign Trade. They also registered themselves with Commercial Taxes Department under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 and were allotted TIN No.33761243844.

2.2. During the course of their business, the respondent/writ petitioner sought to import “LED spare parts for lighting fixtures, spare parts for lighting fixtures and capacitor for lighting fixtures” from M/s.Zhongshan Zeda Lighting Co. Ltd., China and the said goods were loaded vide Bill of Lading dated 04.04.2015, duly covered by Invoice No.ZEDA20150318 dated 02.04.2015 for a value of US$ 10153.92. On arrival of such goods, the respondent/writ petitioner filed Bill of Entry No.8915658 dated 15.04.2015 with the office of the third appellant for assessment and clearance of the goods. After examining the same, the second appellant opined that the goods were found to be in order and as declared.

2.3. However, after a period of two months, the Appraiser attached to the office of the second appellant issued summons dated 26.06.2015 under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 (in short, “the Act”) for appearance of the Director of the respondent/writ petitioner company for enquiry on 04.07.2015, which was a Saturday. Immediately, the respondent /writ petitioner by a communication dated 07.07.2015, sought for provisional release of the goods under Section 110A of the Act r/w Customs (Provisional Duty Assessment) Regulations, 1963, pointing out that the goods are likely to be diminished of its value, but the said requisition was not considered. Therefore, the respondent / writ petitioner filed a writ petition in WP No.22173 of 2015 for a Mandamus directing the appellants herein to assess and clear the imported goods. By order dated 17.08.2015, the aforesaid writ petition was disposed of, directing the respondent/writ petitioner to submit a fresh application within one week and on receipt of the same, the appellants herein were directed to decide the claim of the respondent/writ petitioner for release of the goods within a period of three weeks thereafter.2

2.4. Pursuant to the aforesaid order dated 17.08.2015 made in WP.No.22173/2015, the respondent/writ petitioner approached the third appellant for provisional release of the goods. Following the same, they were issued with a communication dated 07.10.2015 in F.No.S.Misc.165/2015-Gr.6, informing that the Adjudicating Authority accepted for provisional release of the goods in terms of Section 110A of the Act, subject to the conditions that the respondent would execute a bond for full value of the goods viz., Rs.96,12,271/-, besides furnishing a bank guarantee for Rs.28,61,358/- representing 110% of estimated duty evasion amount. Stating that the conditions so imposed by the appellants were onerous and unreasonable, the respondent/writ petitioner filed another writ petition bearing No.34581 of 2015 praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the appellants to release the subject goods covered under Bill of Entry No. 8915658 dated 15.04.2015 in terms of Section 110 (2) of the Act. By order dated 02.