THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.SAM KOSHY AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NARSING RAO NANDIKONDA Writ Petition No.4996 of 2025 ORDER: (per Hon’ble Sri Justice P.SAM KOSHY The instant Writ Petition has been filed by the petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying the Court for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ / order to quash the rejection order dated 22.01.2025 passed by respondent No.1 herein and to direct respondent No.1 to consider the petitioner’s compounding application in accordance with law.

2. Heard Mr. Uzair Ahmed Khan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Dominic Fernandes, learned Standing Counsel for Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (C.B.I.C.) for the respondents.

3. Vide the impugned order, the 1st respondent had rejected an application filed by the petitioner herein seeking compounding of the offence under Section 137 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with Rule 4(3) of the Customs (Compounding of Offences) Rules, 2005.

4. The challenge to the impugned order is on the ground that the respondent-Authorities concerned have not followed the instructions and guidelines issued by the respondents themselves. Further, the order is also bad for the reason that the respondents have not followed the recent decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also of the various High Courts.

5. The brief facts which led to filing of the instant case are that the petitioner herein was alleged to have found to be involved in the smuggling of foreign currency out of India in violation of the Foreign Exchange Rules and Regulations. On 26.07.2016, upon secret information received by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (D.R.I.), Hyderabad Zonal Unit, the petitioner after having reported to the Airport and on completion of the check-in formalities, immigration and security check, proceeded to the departure hall of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, Hyderabad. It was then that officials of the D.R.I. approached the petitioner and intimated him of their intention to examine his checked-in baggage. Upon examining the checked-in baggage of the petitioner, the officials found that the petitioner was carrying 1,25,000 Saudi Rials which is equivalent to Rs.21,68,750/-. A Panchnama was prepared on the same day. The officials, having found the petitioner carrying the said foreign currency with an intention to smuggle the same out of the country, proceeded to initiate proceedings against the petitioner including arrest of the petitioner.

6. Thereafter, the adjudicating authority drew up appropriate proceedings against the petitioner and a show-cause notice was also issued to the petitioner on 13.01.2017. However, the petitioner did not respond to the same nor did he participate in the adjudication proceedings that followed the show-cause notice in spite of proper service to the petitioner. Finally, the adjudicating authority, i.e., the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Hyderabad, passed the Order in Original NO.39/2017, dated 28.04.2017, ordered confiscation of the seized currency and imposed a penalty of Rs.2,00,000/- on the petitioner under Section 114(i) of the Customs Act.

7. It is pertinent to mention here that the petitioner has not questioned the veracity of the said order in original dated 28.04.2017 in any appellate forum or in any High Court. By efflux of time, the Order in Original had attained finality. In fact, the petitioner had also accepted the same and paid the penalty amount of Rs.2 lakhs imposed on him on 13.08.2024 towards compliance of the Order in Original.

8. Upon receipt of the application for compounding of the petitioner / application under Sub-Rule (3) of Rule 4 of the Customs (Compounding of Offence) Rules, 2005, dated 27.08.2024, and upon scrutiny of the antecedents of the petitioner, it was found that there was no registered offence against the petitioner anywhere in India. Thereupon, the petitioner was called upon for personal hearing on 10.01.202