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Roasted areca nuts dispute: orders release of Prenda Creations' consignments
The Background
A dispute over whether imported areca nuts were "roasted" or "dried" led M/s. Prenda Creations Pvt. Ltd. to the . The company had imported roasted areca nuts from Indonesia and was willing to pay the applicable customs duty. However, Customs authorities, relying on a report from the , New Delhi, took the position that the goods were actually dried areca nuts, which attract a different duty rate. Consequently, the consignments remained locked in a Customs bonded warehouse from onwards.
Court's Analysis
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor examined the CRCL report. The report concluded that the sample
"may not be considered as roasted areca/betel nut"
based on its physical appearance. The Court noted that the lab's own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for testing areca nuts lists physical appearance as only one of several parameters, including moisture content, damaged nuts percentage, and total aflatoxin. The CRCL report did not apply these other scientific parameters to rule out roasting.
The Court also observed that the Customs authorities had previously released four similar consignments of the same importer on when the only dispute was the country of origin. In the present case, the moisture content of the samples was below 7%, which falls within the permissible limit for both roasted and dried varieties. The petitioner placed on record a private lab report confirming the goods as roasted areca nuts.
Key Observations
"In such circumstances we are of the view that when the report of Central Revenue Control Laboratory has based its conclusion only on physical appearance and not on any other scientific parameter, it would not be appropriate to allow the respondents to withhold the release of goods for years together, or call upon the petitioner to release such goods only on furnishing of ."
The Decision
The Court allowed the petitions and directed the respondents to release the imported consignments of roasted areca nuts upon the petitioner furnishing a . The release is subject to the ongoing proceedings for determination of customs duty. Physical delivery of goods declared fit for consumption must be ensured within a fortnight. The Court also directed that two consignments which had been withheld for about eight months, even though the authorities themselves found them to be roasted, be released . The petitioner was given four weeks to reply to the , after which the authorities may proceed with the .
