The Madras High Court has allowed the Union’s appeal against an order releasing a watermelon-seed consignment for transit to Nepal, holding that transit arrangements do not displace applicable customs restrictions.
Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan delivered the September 24 judgment in the dispute involving Dhanalaxmi Food.
Customs authorities had seized the consignment after finding Pakistan-origin labels on some bags. The importer relied on documents indicating other origins and argued that the goods were destined for Nepal rather than Indian consumption.
The bench held that the restriction on goods originating in or exported from Pakistan also covers transit. It rejected the argument that the India-Nepal arrangements overrode the Customs Act and security-based prohibitions.
The competing origin documents presented a factual dispute for the statutory authorities and procedures. The court did not conclusively determine the goods’ country of origin.
It also declined to split the consignment merely because only some bags carried the disputed labels, and allowed the appeal against the release order.