Legal principle

An allottee who, under the terms of the licence/allotment agreement, undertakes to obtain all statutory approvals bears the risk and delay of securing them, and resulting loss of business is not a valid ground to compel the port authorities to waive lease rent.

Court decision

The Gujarat High Court (Aniruddha P. Mayee, J.) dismissed the writ petition with no order as to costs, holding there was no infirmity in the Port Trust's communication dated 27/29.01.2025 rejecting the rent waiver, the port authorities having rightly rejected the application. The Court left open the petitioner's stated intention to apply for payment of outstanding dues in instalments and for issuance of gate passes, directing that any such application be considered on its own merits and in accordance with law.

Facts

M/s G N Enterprise, through its proprietor Nilesh Bhanushali, won an e-auction for allotment of 50 sq. mts. at the Cargo Jetty of Deen Dayal Port (Kandla) to run a Duty Free Shop inside the custom bond area under a 5-year leave and licence agreement running from 20.01.2021 to 20.01.2026. The petitioner applied for a licence under Section 58A of the Customs Act, 1962 to run the Duty Free Shop, and due to delay in its issuance (reportedly cured only after the Port Trust Chairman's letter of 19.05.2021 to the Commissioner of Customs), could not commence business until 15.01.2022 — an unusable period of about 11 months. The petitioner sought waiver of lease rent for those 11 months and/or extension of the lease, which the Port Trust rejected by communication dated 27.01.2025, prompting this writ petition.

Key provisions

• Section 58A, Customs Act, 1962 — Licensing of special warehouses