The requirement in Rule 11-A of the 2005 Rules to submit Excise Verification Certificates within 21 days is directory rather than mandatory; therefore, administrative authorities cannot mechanically invoke bank guarantees for minor procedural delays without considering the underlying circumstances of compliance.

COMMON ORDER:

Since these Writ Petitions are filed by same petitioner involving a common lis, they are being disposed of by this common order.

2. Heard learned Counsel for petitioner, learned Government Pleader for Prohibition and Excise appearing on behalf of respondent Nos. 1 and 2, Sri M.V. Durga Prasad, learned counsel for respondent No. 3 in W.P. No. 27288 of 2014 and Sri B.S. Prasad, learned counsel for respondent No.3, in W.P. No. 27289 of 2014 and perused the record.

Facts in W.P. No. 27288 of 2014:

3. The case of the petitioner in brief is that it is a Company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, inter alia engaged in the manufacture and sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and alike products; that the petitioner has its manufacturing units at Malkajgiri, Ranga Reddy District, situated in the State of Telangana; that the petitioner’s manufacturing Unit at Malkajgiri, Ranga Reddy District was issued with license to manufacture IMFL with an installed capacity of 550 Lakhs PL under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act, 1968 (for short the Act, 1968’), in the composite State of Andhra Pradesh; and that upon bifurcation of the composite State of Andhra Pradesh into the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the subject Unit of the petitioner is now located in the State of Telangana.

4. It is the further case of petitioner that in order to export the IMFL manufactured by it at its unit situated at Malkajgiri, Ranga Reddy District to the Depots situated in Andhra Pradesh after 02.06.2014, it had made an application as per Rule 10 Andhra Pradesh Excise (Import, Export and Transportation of ‘IMFL’ and Foreign Liquor Permits) Rules, 2005 (for short ‘the Rules’) by submitting an application in Form-L4 to the 2nd respondent for grant of export permit along with the prescribed fee.

5. Petitioner further contends that on obtaining export permit subject to payment of Excise Duty on IMFL proposed to be exported or on furnishing Bank Guarantee from the scheduled Bank covering the extent of entire Excise Revenue due on the consignment, the 2nd respondent authority would grant permission to the applicant/petitioner to export the IMFL to the place of destination permitted therein.

6. It is also the further case of petitioner that export of IMFL to the place of destination is based on import permit granted by the destination-State importing the IMFL.

7. It is the further case of petitioner that on dispatching the consignment and delivering the same at the import destination State, the petitioner is required to obtain/secure verification report from the concerned Prohibition and Excise Officials of respective State who had issued import permit and the said verification report issued by the Officials of the Prohibition and Excise Department of the destination location is required to be submitted to the Export Permit issuing authority i.e., the 2nd respondent herein within 21 days as per Rule 11-A of the Rules after expiry of the validity of the Export Permit, failing which the Excise Duty paid or the Bank guarantee furnished shall be invoked and encashed by the Government towards Excise Revenue due on the consignment and no new permit shall be issued until such verification report for the previous consignments is furnished.

8. It is also the further case of petitioner that during the month of July, 2014, it had obtained 279 Export Permits for exporting IMFL to the State of Andhra Pradesh and the Prohibition and Excise authorities in the State of Andhra Pradesh also having issued corresponding Import Permits, the pet