Larsen & Toubro Limited Vs Union of India (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court held that denial of MEIS Scrips benefit due to technological glitches in DGFT portal or the fact that the current electronic systems meant to assist the implementation of the law or operation of such schemes are inadequate or need revamping is not justified.
Facts- The Petitioner seeks an appropriate writ to direct the second and third Respondents to (i) forthwith accept the amendment made in three shipping bills vide amendment certificates dated 17 October 2019 and flag “Y” appearing on ICEGATE under the head “REWARD” against the said three shipping bills and (ii) issue and grant MEIS Scrips amounting to Rs.1,61,34,190.00 to the Petitioner.
The above relief is sought in the context of three shipping bills for export of goods filed by the Petitioner between 23 August 2017 to 22 December 2018. In these shipping bills, the Petitioner, the Petitioner’s Customs brokers inadvertently declared the Petitioner did not intend to claim the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (“MEIS”) benefit by indicating the letter “N” instead of “Y” in the relevant digital REWARD column.
Conclusion- Held that the DGFT and its officials were not justified in refusing to consider the manually corrected shipping bills, particularly after the Customs Authorities allowed them to be amended by exercising their powers under Section 149 of the Customs Act. In any event, the DGFT and its officials were not justified in refusing to consider the amendments finally carried out electronically on the specious plea that the DGFT portal or the DGFT systems could not handle such situations.
