Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Review Petition Of Customs Department Against 2021 Judgment in Canon India Case

Today (September 19, 2024, Thursday), the Supreme Court (SC) of India was hearing the review petition against its 2021 judgment in Canon India Private Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Customs which held that officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) do not have powers under the Customs Act, 1962. The three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments from both sides for 4 days. During the proceedings, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman represented the Commissioner of Customs whereas Senior Advocate (SA) Arshad Hidayatullah, SA Arvind Datar, SA S. Nandakumar, SA Nachiketa Joshi, and SA Purvish Malkan made arguments for various parties. Advocate V. Lakshmikumaran, SA Vikram Choudhary, and SA R.K. Sanghi appeared for the respondents.

Additional Solicitor General Venkataraman emphasized the historical integration of customs and DRI under the Ministry of Finance since 1977. He said, “From 1977 onwards, the customs and the DRI have been part of the (Union) Ministry of Finance and their officers form a class of officers under the law.” He argued that DRI officers should be considered as customs officials capable of enforcing duty recoveries. Contrarily, the 2021 SC ruling, led by then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde held that a DRI officer is not “the proper officer” under the Customs Act to undertake such actions, leading to the quashing of several DRI show cause notices to private firms. After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its verdict.