Mink Tradecom Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India
(2018) 8 GSTL 129
In the High Court of Delhi
WP(C) 8667/2017 and CM 35625/2017
Before Justice (Dr) S. Muralidhar and Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Decided on September 26, 2017

Relevancy of the Case: Operating nature of a notification issued through electronic medium

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Customs Act, 1962 (Section 46, 111, 112)
• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 8)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petition concerns a shipment of gold coins imported from South Korea. This shipment should be processed without being subject to the Notification limits.
• The Commissioner of Customs (Import) issues a show-cause notice based on an Office Memorandum published by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
• The notice asks why the Customs Agency should not confiscate these coins under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that even Customs officials were not aware of the notifications that placed gold coins in the restricted category. Further, the digital signature on the notification shows the date as August 28, 2017, and the time as 10:47 PM. This is three days after the date written on the notifications.
• These notifications only became available on the internet after they were digitally signed and published. There is a three-day difference between the actual date of publication and the date given on the notification.
• Therefore, the court must rely on Section 8 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The two notices regarding this matter should be considered to be published on August 28, 2019.

Final Decision

• The court directed the respective Customs Authorities to provisionally release the consignment within 48 hours. On the other hand, the petitioner has to supply a bond for the full amount of consignments.