Uday Jain & Anr Vs Additional Commissioner Customs Air Cargo And Import & Anr (Delhi High Court)
Delhi HC orders release of B.C. Sanyal painting to gallery owner, subject to Rs.2L ad-hoc duty and Rs.30,000 redemption fee. Customs to respond.
In the ongoing legal dispute of Uday Jain & Anr Vs Additional Commissioner Customs Air Cargo And Import & Anr, the Delhi High Court has directed the provisional release of a rare artwork by the late Indian artist B.C. Sanyal. The petition was filed by art gallery owner Uday Jain and his employee Nixit Kothari, challenging a customs order that rejected the declared value of the artwork and imposed substantial penalties and differential duty.
The painting at the center of the case is “The Scarecrow” by B.C. Sanyal, a renowned Indian artist and Padma Bhushan awardee. The artwork, created in 1972, had been taken out of India at some point and was being imported back from Dubai by Dhoomimal Art Gallery. The gallery declared the value of the piece at a mere $200 USD, stating it was not in perfect condition and required significant restoration.
Disputed Valuation and Penalties
The Customs Department, however, re-determined the value of the painting at ₹30 lakhs based on an art valuer’s report. This led to a series of severe actions against the petitioners, as detailed in the impugned order:
- Reclassification and Valuation: The painting’s classification was rejected, and its value was re-determined at ₹30 lakhs, resulting in a demand for a differential duty of over ₹83 lakhs.
- Confiscation and Redemption Fine: The artwork was ordered to be confiscated, with an option for redemption upon payment of a fine of ₹30,000.
- Imposition of Penalties: A penalty of ₹83,23,037 was imposed on Dhoomimal Art Gallery under Section 114A of the Customs Act, 1962, for misclassification and undervaluation. Additional penalties of ₹1,00,000 and ₹50,000 were also imposed on the gallery and its employee, respectively.
Arguments Presented to the Court
