Truespices India Inc Vs Union of India & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court considered a writ petition filed under Article 226 concerning delays in finalisation of export shipping bills, release of bank guarantees, and processing of IGST refunds due to conflicting laboratory reports. The petitioner, an exporter of tobacco products including pan masala, held valid GST registration, Tobacco Board registration, and an FSSAI licence. It filed shipping bills dated 28 October 2024 for export of goods described as mouth fresheners, pan masala, and tobacco products. Although the goods were exported, an alert led to their provisional release, subject to furnishing bank guarantees.
Samples of the goods were sent to the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL), which issued test reports dated 24 and 27 December 2024. These reports raised no objection. On this basis, the petitioner sought finalisation of the shipping bills and release of the bank guarantees. However, without drawing fresh samples, a subsequent CRCL report dated 10 November 2025 was issued as a clarification, stating that the samples contained betelnut, nicotine, catechu, lime, and flavouring substances, and characterising them as “Gutka” under the relevant Indian Standard. Following this clarification, the Commissioner of Customs issued a letter dated 5 February 2025 to the GST Department requesting that IGST refunds to the petitioner not be processed.
