The Bombay High Court has pulled up the Customs Department for reassessing import duties without complying with the mandatory requirement of passing a speaking order under Section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962. The Court emphasized that the reassessment done without following due process and within the prescribed time frame amounts to a clear violation of law and principles of natural justice.
The petitioner/assessee has challenged the reassessed Bills of Entry on the ground that the department neither issued a speaking order within the statutory 15-day period nor granted a proper hearing to the importer, despite a previously accepted classification under CTH 7005 10.
The Customs department argued that the importer had an alternate remedy by way of an appeal and that the reassessments were provisional, pending test reports. However, the bench comprising Justices M. S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain held that the procedural breach was so fundamental that the writ petition was maintainable.
“Where there’s a patent breach of statutory provisions and natural justice, relegating the party to an alternate remedy is not justified,” the Court observed.
Section 17(5) of the Customs Act mandates that when reassessment is contrary to the importer’s self-assessment, and the importer does not accept the same in writing, a speaking order must be issued within 15 days of reassessment.
The petitioner submitted that since no such order was passed within the stipulated period, the reassessment stood vitiated and the only lawful option was for the department to accept the earlier self-assessment.
The Court noted the department’s assurance that a proper show cause notice would now be issued within 15 days, followed by a speaking order within four weeks of receiving the importer’s reply. An opportunity of personal hearing would also be granted.
The petitioner had already paid the customs duty under protest, and the goods had been released.
Case Details
Case Title: M/S. Asahi India Glass Ltd. Versus Deputy Commissioner Of Customs
Case No.: WRIT PETITION (L) NO.4468 OF 2025
Date: 8 July 2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Anshumaan Sahni
Counsel For Respondent: Shruti Vyas
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