Amendment to section 129E incorporating mandatory pre-deposit is constitutionally valid

Manjeet Singh Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court) Bombay High Court held that section 129E of the Customs Act was amended on 1st October 2014 incorporating mandatory requirement of pre-deposit is constitutionally valid and cannot be held to be unreasonable, onerous, unfair or discriminatory. Facts- Respondents on the basis of intelligence inputs, intercepted a container destined for ICD, Dhannad, Madhya Pradesh in the name of M/s Topper Milk (India) Pvt Ltd. Indore with the manifest mentioning the goods as “footwear and fabric”. On examination, it was found to contain Electroshock batton...