IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1667 of 2026 ==========================================================

M/S. JBS EXPORTS & ANR.

Versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

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Appearance:

MR HARSHADRAY A DAVE(3461) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2 MAUNIL G YAJNIK(9346) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL and HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.N.RAY Date : 12/03/2026

ORAL ORDER

(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL)

1. The present petition has been filed with the following prayer.

“8. (b) This Honourable Court be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the Respondents to release Rs. 53,00,000/- towards withheld duty drawback along with statutory interest thereon from the date it fell due till the date it is paid under Section 75A of the Customs Act;

(c) This Honourable Court be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the Respondents to compensate the Petitioner for the loss suffered by the Petitioner, which may be quantified to Rs.

45,00,000/- along with interest thereon at Bank Rate;”

2. For the prayers made in the present petition, Mr.Maunil G.Yagnik, learned advocate has put an appearance on behalf of the Revenue and would invite attention of the Court to the Public Notice No. 17/2015, which is pertaining to the issue raised in the present petition and reads as under :-

“Subject: Issuance of Manual cheque for drawback amount due to discrepancies in exports account - M/r.

It is for information of all importers/exporters / CHAs and the trade that on many occasions drawback amount of certain exporters could not be credited to their account because of various reasons viz account does not exist, invalid receiver IFSC code; account stopped, wrong account number, no such account type; a/c type not found; special character not allowed (eg.) eta In such cases, the un-disbursed amounts are returned to customs All the exporters are requested to furnish correct Bank Accounts to the Modal Banks for expeditious clearance of the drawback claims.

Further, the following procedure is prescribed to be followed by all the concerned for proper verification:-

1) Whenever, an exporter submits request letter to the Drawback section for issuance of manual cheques or any authority letter to their CHA / employee. /representative in this behalf, then it must be ensured that their letter is duly attested by their bankers to certify the authenticity of the signatory names & designation. The original copy of the said authority letter will be retained by the dealing STA of the Drawback Section for future reference, if any.

2) It is observed that some exporters never submit any explanation / reasons of non-receipt of drawback amount in their account. It is declared that the exporters must mention the exact reasons in their request letter and submit a letter from their banker regarding the reasons of the drawback amount not being credited into their account through the drawback scroll transmitted to the Nodal Bank.

3) Correct address of the exporter with pincode be intimated for dispatch of the cheque to the exporter.

4) Cheque be dispatched only by Registered Post AD and shall not be handed over to any person.

5) Necessary comments of sanction of the Drawback be entered in the EDI system against the Shipping Bill concerned so that double sanction can be avoided.

6) Any difficulties faced in Implementing this Public Notice may be brought to the notice of the Addl/Dy/Asst. Commissioner of Customs of the Drawback Section or the undersigned, if not resolved.”

3. The submission of learned advocate for the Revenue is that the Revenue does not seek to join any issue on the refunds of the duty drawback, howev