* THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. SHRAVAN KUMAR % Dated 02-05-2025 Between:

# M/s. Rain CII Carbon (Vizag) Limited and another ... Petitioners and $ Office of the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Hyderabad and others.

…. Respondents ! Counsel for the Petitioners : Mr. Sai Sanjay Suraneni ^ Counsel for the respondents : Gadi Praveen Kumar Deputy Solicitor General of India < GIST : --- >HEAD NOTE : ---

? Cases referred: :

1. (1990) 4 Supreme Court Cases 594 2. (2021) 6 Supreme Court Cases 771

3. (2022) 16 Supreme Court Cases 176 THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. SHRAVAN KUMAR

ORDER

This writ petition is filed with the following prayer:

“(i) Declaring the action of Respondent No.1/Regional Authority, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Hyderabad in issuing the Rejection Letter dated 05.02.2025 bearing File No. 09AX04000927AM25 and Deficiency Letter dated 15.01.2025 bearing File No. 09AX04000927AM25 as being arbitrary, illegal besides being violative of the Petitioners' rights under Articles 14, 19 and 300 of the Constitution of India, the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation Act), 1992, Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, DGFT Notification 68/2023 dated 07.03.2024, CAQM Order dated 15.02.2024 and the Hon'ble Supreme Court's order dated 10.10.2023 in W.P. (C) No.13029/1985, M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, and consequently quash the Rejection Letter dated 05.02.2025 bearing File No.09AX04000927AM25 and Deficiency Letter dated 15.01.2025 bearing File No.

09AX04000927AM25; and (ii) Declare that raw pet coke (RPC) imports by the Petitioners for supply of calcined pet coke (CPC) to SEZ units in India are entitled to the grant of Advance Authorisation under the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023; and (iii) Direct the Respondents to grant Advance Authorisation to the Petitioners against their Application for Grant of Advance Authorisation dated 31.12.2024 bearing File No.

09AX04000927AM25; and (iv) Direct the Respondents to permit the Petitioners to supply CPC to SEZ units in India in terms of the order dated 15.02.2024 issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas read with the Hon'ble Supreme Court's order dated 10.10.2023 in W.P. (C) No.13029/1985, M.C.

Mehta v. Union of India; and (v) In the alternative and without prejudice to the above prayers, declare the actions of the Respondents in issuing the DGFT Notification No.68/2023 dated 07.03.2024, if and insofar as it purports to prohibit the supply of CPC by domestic calciners to SEZ units as being illegal arbitrary, illegal besides being violative of the Petitioners' rights under Articles 14 & 19 of the Constitution of India; and consequently quash the DGFT Notification No.68/2023 dated 07.03.2024, if and insofar as it purports to prohibit the supply of CPC by domestic calciners to SEZ units; and (vi) Pass such other Order or Orders as the Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

2. The Petitioner No.1 is a company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. On account of its export volumes, the petitioner’s company had been granted accreditation as a Four-Star Export House. The petitioner Company is engaged in the business of calcined petroleum coke (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CPC’) manufacturing CPC from Raw Petroleum Coke (hereinafter referred to as “the RPC”). The petitioner Company had applied for issuance of Advance Authorisation for its manufacturing unit located in the domestic tariff area (DTA") in the Visakhapatnam Port, which has been in operations since 1998 with a CPC production capacity of 0.5 million Tonnes Per Annum ("TPA") and a power co-generation facility of 49 MW.

3. The Petitioner No.2 holds 425 shares of Rain Industries Limited. 4. Respondent No.1, Office of the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Hyderabad Regional Authority, (Additional DGFT) ("Regional Authority"), is inter alia responsible for administering the Advance Authorisation sc