IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 06.11.2023 Coram The Hon’ble Mr.Justice Krishnan Ramasamy W.P.No.31369 of 2023 and W.M.P.No.30998 of 2023 M/s.Mudra Precious Metals Pvt. Ltd., rep. by its Director, Mr.Dishank Hundia, ...Petitioner VS.

1. The Principal Commissioner of Customs, Chennai-VII, Air Cargo Complex, Meenambakkam, Chennai-600 027.

2. The Deputy Commissioner of Customs (SIIB), Air Cargo Complex, Meenambakkam, Chennai-600 027.

3. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs (Import-Shed), Air Cargo Complex, New Custom House, Meenambakkam, Chennai-600 027. 4. The Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Delhi Zonal Office, B-3 & 4, 6^th Floor, Pt.Dindayal Antyodaya Bhawan Lodhi Road, CGO Complex, New Delhi.

5. The Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, No.27,G.N.Chetty Road, T.Nagar, Chennai-600 017.

Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking for a Writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents herein to release the goods, viz., 5 Packages, 142 Kilos, 15 Bars totally weighing 133,513.30 grams of Gold Dore Bars of Guinea imported vide Bill of Entry No.7909785, dated 20.09.2023, by extending the Benefit of Sl.No. 1 of Customs Notification No.96/2008-Customs, dated 13.08.2008 and also AIDC Notification No.011/2021-Cus., dated 01.02.2021 by accepting the Country of Origin Certificate Reference No.062-62 AGUIPEX/2023, dated 18.09.2023 issued by Government of Guinea under Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed Countries (Combined Declaration and Certificate).

For Petitioner : Mr.A.K.Jayaraj For Respondents 1-3 : Mr.Rajinish Pathiyil Senior Panel Counsel For Respondent-4 &5 : Mr.V.Sundareshwaran, Senior Standing Counsel

ORDER

This prayer in this Writ Petition is for issuance of mandamus to the respondents herein to release the goods, viz. Gold Dore Bars of Guinea imported vide Bill of Entry No.7909785, dated 20.09.2023, by extending the Benefit of Sl.No. 1 of Customs Notification No.96/2008-Customs, dated 13.08.2008 and also AIDC Notification No.011/2021-Cus., dated 01.02.2021 by accepting the Country of Origin Certificate Reference No.062-62 AGUIPEX/2023, dated 18.09.2023 issued by Government of Guinea under Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed Countries (Combined Declaration and Certificate).

2. The case of the petitioner in short is as follows:-

i) The petitioner herein is a Private Limited Company and registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The object of the petitioner- Company is to carry on the business of refining the Gold out of Gold Dore after importing Gold from Gold producing GEA Countries as per the terms of the License issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (in short, DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

ii) The petitioner has imported gold weighing 133,513.30 grams of Gold Dore Bars at USD 7,671,420.86 which were supplied by M/s.JSK Jewellery LLC, Dubai, vide Invoice No.JSK/DE/2023/236, dated 18.09.2023 and filed Bill of Entry No.7909785 dated 20.09.2023 and claimed the clearance of the goods for Home Consumption. The petitioner had also filed Airway Bill No.235-13615755, dated 18.09.2023 and also declared the above goods as classifiable under 71081200 and the origin of the said goods as Guinea.

iii) The Ministry of Commerce viz., DGFT after perusing all the documents and after proper inspection and perusing the documents viz., NABL Certificate, NOC from Pollution Control Board, has issued Import - Export License vide License No.0111008597 for import of Gold Dore Bars up to 95% purity for a quantity of 10.0 MTS., and from all GEA Countries.

iv) As per the above license issued by the Ministry of Commerce, DGFT, New Delhi, the petitioner had imported the above goods viz., Gold Dore Bars and subsequently, by letters dated 29.09.2023 and 05.10.2023, the petitioner had requested the respondents herein to release the goods provisionally under Section 110 A of the Customs Act. Howeve