Manoj Kumar Nagar Vs Principal Commissioner of Customs (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court heard three writ petitions filed by Customs House Agent (CHA) license holders—M/s Expert Cargo Movers (Manoj Kumar Nagar), M/s Phenomenal Logistics (Naveen Kumar Sharma), and M/s Shyam Singh—seeking waiver or reduction of the pre-deposit required to challenge penalties imposed under the Customs Act, 1962. The petitions arose from the Order-in-Original dated 1st August 2025, passed by the Principal Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex (Import), which had imposed substantial penalties on the petitioners for alleged involvement in enabling illegal imports controlled by one Mr. Zakir Khan.
The background of the case involves Mr. Zakir Khan, who was found to be operating multiple dummy and proxy entities for importing electronic goods and accessories with significant undervaluation and mis-declaration. The imports allegedly included prohibited and restricted items, such as refurbished laptops, old CPUs, mobile phones, hard disks, and wallets. The petitioners, as licensed CHAs, were alleged to have permitted Mr. Zakir Khan to use their CHA licenses, either directly or through intermediaries, for facilitating these imports. During the investigation, statements were recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, including that of Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, a customs broker who admitted to providing clearance services to Mr. Zakir Khan for 5–6 years and using the CHA licenses of the petitioners to do so. This indicated that the petitioners had allowed misuse of their licenses, whether knowingly or through acquaintances, enabling Mr. Zakir Khan’s fraudulent imports.
