Noya Infrastructure LLP Vs Union of India (Gujarat High Court)
Gujarat High Court held that detaining of bulk liquid cargo of Distillate Oil is liable to be quashed detaining since cloud point is not a significant parameter in as much as other significant parameters are satisfied.
Facts- The petitioners are involved in trading of industrial oil and other allied pursuits and are engaged in importing bulk liquid cargo being Distillate Oil. The petitioners also have a certificate of analysis issued by the company from which they had purchased the material i.e. Chevron General Trading LLC, which showed that the imported product is Distillate Oil. On 01.08.2025, when the liquid was transferred from MT-Vayu into Customs Bonded Storage Tank, such cargo was placed under investigation for the alleged mis-declaration, and the officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Delhi Zonal Unit, recorded panchnama and drew representative samples in triplicate from the said Tank in the presence of the petitioners’ representatives, customs brokers, and independent surveyors. On completion of the sample collection process, the cargo was detained u/s. 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 on the information of possible mis-declaration, vide a Detention Memo dated 01.09.2025.
It is the case of the petitioners that despite completion of discharge operations, as well as drawal of test samples, and despite there being Public Notice No.76/2020 issued by the New Customs House, Mumbai as well as Public Notice No.14/2017 issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, the Customs authorities have neither released the cargo nor furnished any test results of the samples drawn on 01.09.2025. It appears that during the pendency of the writ petitions, the Test Report dated 30.09.2025 was declared, and the same mentions that the imported goods do not meet the requirements of Distillate Oil as per IS 16731:2019, and accordingly, Seizure Memo dated 01.10.2025 was issued by the Intelligence Officer, DRI, which is the subject matter of challenge in the present writ petitions.
