The central legal point established in the judgment is the court's emphasis on the prompt exercise of discretion by the authority, particularly in the case of perishable goods, and the directive to dispose the application for provisional release within a specified time frame.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to allow the re-export of the goods imported against bill of entry No.7666982 dated 27.02.2022 without charging any demurrage / detention charges from the petitioner.)

1. Mr.Santhanaraman, learned Senior Standing Counsel accepts notice for R1 and R4 and Mr.V.Sundareswaran, learned Senior Panel Counsel accepts notice for R2 and R3 and both are armed with instructions to proceed with the matter finally even at this juncture. Hence, by consent of all learned counsel, this Writ Petition is disposed finally even at the stage of admission.

2. The prayer of the petitioner, which is an importer of consignment of betel nut, is for a mandamus directing provisional release of the consignments for the purpose of re-export and also to permit re-export without charging any demurrage/detention charges.

3. The goods have been imported against bill of entry No.7666982 dated 27.02.2022. This Court has had an occasion to consider the prayers along with similar lines, though in the context of consignment for domestic consumption. The only difference between the present matter and the other matters that have been considered under several orders including a batch of Writ Petitions in W.P.No.11942 of 2022 etc. batch on 13.06.2022 is that the representation filed by the petitioner before Deputy Commissioner of Customs/R4 dated 25.06.2022 is for provisional release under Section 110A of the Customs Act, 1962 for reexport thereafter.

4. I have, in my order dated 13.06.2022 directed the petitioners therein to file applications seeking provisional release under Section 110A, if they were so inclined and directed the respondent to consider and dispose the applications in accordance with law within a time frame that had been fixed. Simultaneous therewith, I had also directed that the respondents would engage in determination of the adjudication of the commodity in order that the nature of the consignment/goods imported would be determined to facilitate a decision being taken in the context of provisional release. The same order is passed in the present case as well.

5. For the sake of completion and clarity, I extract herein the relevant portion of order dated 13.06.2022.

2. This batch of writ petitions has been filed by importers, according to them, of unflavoured Supari (Betal Nut Product) ('goods in question'), from various countries. The consignments had all been imported on 27.02.2022. In one batch of writ petitions, that is in WP.Nos.11942, 11260, 11277, 11414, 11662, 13314 of 2022 and WP.No.8604 of 2022, the petitioners have been served with seizure memoranda issued by the 4 th respondent intimating the petitioners that the consignments have been seized.

3. In WP.Nos.12473, 12474 & 12477 of 2022, the petitioners would deny receipt of seizure memoranda, but are before the Court insofar as their consignments have also, admittedly, been seized.

4. Some of the petitioners have filed applications for provisional release of the consignments under Section 110A of the Customs Act, 1962 (in short 'Act') on the following dates: Sl.No. WP.Nos. Company Name Date 1. 11414 of 2022 M/s.Sarveshwari Industries 19.04.2022 2. 11277 of 2022 M/s.Sarveshwari Industries 18.04.2022 3. 13314 of 2022 M/s.Sparsh Trading 09.05.2022 4. 11662 of 2022 M/s.Sarveshwari Industries 19.04.2022 5. 11260 of 2022 M/s.Sarveshwari Industries 18.04.2022 6. 11942 of 2022 M/s.Blue Vista International Limited 19.04.2022 7. 8604 of 2022 M/s.GlowMart Inc. 26.03.2022

5. The prayers of the petitioners are either for quash of the seizure memoranda issued by the 4 th respondent and release of the perishable imported consignment of unflavoured supari (Betel Nut Product) or for a mandamus directing the respondents herein to assess and release the goods in question.

6. The Customs Tariff classifies ‘Areca nuts’ under 0802/Chapter-8 Entry 0802 80 as follows: 0802 80 - Areca nu