HC issues bailable warrants against customs officials for non-compliance

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued bailable warrants for the Commissioner of Customs and the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, requiring their presence in the court on October 3. The directive follows the court’s inquiry into the Commissioner’s absence, to which the counsel for the Union of India had no satisfactory response.

The direction by the Bench of Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjay Vashisth came in a case where the court on September 20 directed the Commissioner of Customs to release the seized goods without further objections.

The authorised signatory Samir Arora was also instructed to appear before the authorities on September 25 but the goods remained unreleased and Arora was subsequently directed to provide a bond of more than Rs 4 crore for the value of the seized goods, along with a bank guarantee of over Rs 6 crore to cover differential duty and potential penalties pending adjudication.

“The order issued by the Deputy Commissioner adjudication does not seem to be in compliance with the court orders and it appears that the officer concerned has not even bothered to notice the directions of this Court,” the Bench asserted.

The matter was brought to the court’s notice after a petition was filed against the Union of Indian and other respondents by Cuthbert Winner LLP and another petitioner through advocate Hemant Bassi with counsel Ritesh Singh, Gurmandeep Singh Sullar and Aakash Gupta. The petitioners were seeking directions for quashing order of seizure dated May 4, 2023.