Gokul Agro Resources Limited vs Principal Commissioner Of ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 7764 Guj

                                                                                NEUTRAL CITATION




    C/SCA/1429/2023                            JUDGMENT DATED: 19/10/2023

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            IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
              R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1429 of 2023
                                  With
              R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1430 of 2023
                                  With
              R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1431 of 2023

FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:


HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV

and
HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE MAUNA M. BHATT
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1    Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed
     to see the judgment ?

2    To be referred to the Reporter or not ?

3    Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy
     of the judgment ?

4    Whether this case involves a substantial question
     of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution
     of India or any order made thereunder ?

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                    GOKUL AGRO RESOURCES LIMITED
                                Versus
                  PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS
==========================================================
Appearance:
SAUMITRA CHATURVEDI(8369) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR CB GUPTA(1685) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR HARSHEEL D SHUKLA(6158) for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3
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  CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV
          and
          HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE MAUNA M. BHATT
                       Date : 19/10/2023
                      ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV)

1 Rule returnable forthwith. Mr.C.B.Gupta, learned

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C/SCA/1429/2023 JUDGMENT DATED: 19/10/2023

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advocate, waives service of rule on behalf of respondent

No.1 and Mr.Harsheel Shukla, learned advocate, waives

service of rule on behalf of respondent Nos. 2 and 3. With

consent of the learned advocates appearing for the

respective parties, the matters are taken up for final

hearing today.

2 Heard Mr.Saumitra Chaturvedi, learned counsel for

the petitioners and Mr.C.B.Gupta, learned advocate for

respondent No.1 and Mr.Harsheel Shukla, learned

advocate for respondents Nos. 2 and 3. For the purposes

of this order, facts of Special Civil Application No. 1429 of

2023 are considered.

3 Facts in brief are that it is the case of the petitioner

that it had exported goods under the Scheme, namely,

Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). While

claiming rewards, through oversight, the petitioner had

mentioned "No". An application was moved before the

competent authority for amendment of the shipping bill

under Sec.149 of the Customs Act, 1962, which was

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C/SCA/1429/2023 JUDGMENT DATED: 19/10/2023

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rejected by an order dated 12.07.2017. Aggrieved by this,

the petitioner filed an appeal which also met the same

fate.

3.1 When the petitioner approached the Customs, Excise

& Service Tax Tribunal ("CESTAT" for sure), the Tribunal,

by its order dated 02.03.2020 allowed the appeal and

held that the petitioner was entitled for amendment in the

shipping bill so as to enable him to claim the rewards

under the MEIS.

4 Mr.C.B.Gupta, learned counsel appearing for

respondent No.2, would submit that manual amendment

in light of the application so made by the petitioner was

granted by the order dated 02.12.2020. The amendment

could not have been made on the portal due to various

reasons.

5 However, an advisory has been issued in September

2023 by the Director General of Systems and Data

Management, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and

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C/SCA/1429/2023 JUDGMENT DATED: 19/10/2023

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Customs. The Advisory reads as under:

"Reference have been received in this office wherein amendment in Reward Scheme flag at the item level from "N" to "Y" in the Shipping Bill were allowed Post EGM, so that Sbs can be transmitted to DGFT.

2. Present system design does not allow post EGM amendment. Now an option is added "Post EGM MEIS / Reward amendment" under AC Role in ICES. Using this option, system will allow officer to amend MEIS / reward scheme flag from N to Y. Also, it will enable the SB to be transmitted to DGFT.

3. For reference, screenshots of Post EGM MEIS / Reward amendment are attached with this advisory.

Officers facing any difficulties or issues may email to [email protected]."

6 In light of this advisory, if the petitioner makes an

application to the competent authority for seeking the

amendment of Shipping Bills, the portals shall accept

such amendment in light of the aforesaid advisory and

grant the rewards that the petitioner would otherwise be

eligible under the Scheme. The petitions are allowed to

the aforesaid extent. Rule is made absolute accordingly.

(BIREN VAISHNAV, J)

(MAUNA M. BHATT,J) BIMAL