Taanish Enterprises Vs Commissioner of Customs (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that provisional release of second-hand digital Multi-function Devices [MFDs] are granted on the basis of benefit of doubt principle since MFDs are freely importable or restricted/ prohibited items cannot be conclusively established with material available at the stage of provisional release.
Facts- The issue that arises for consideration in these writ petitions is about the categorisation of second-hand digital Multi-function Devices (MFDs), which have been imported by the respective petitioners and detained by the Customs Department for non-production of (a) Bureau of Indian Standards Certificate (BIS Certificate) and (b) authorisation from the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The respective petitioners are seeking for provisional release of MFDs through these writ petitions.
In the case on hand, the petitioners claim that MFDs are freely importable items, whereas the Customs Department claims that they are restricted items which require certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and prior authorisation from DGFT, before importing them. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), which has been impleaded in these writ petitions as a party respondent, claims that second-hand MFDs imported by the respective petitioners are prohibited items and therefore, provisional release u/s. 110A of the Customs Act, 1962, pending final adjudication, cannot be granted by the Customs Department.
