Legal principle

A private vehicle that left India as a travel conveyance under Section 43 does not lose its character on return merely because it was shipped back in a container, and customs must allow a manual bill of entry when the electronic system cannot accept the filing.

Court decision

The writ petition was allowed. The owner may file a bill of entry without an IEC or GSTIN, and if the electronic filing fails, customs must accept the papers and a manual bill of entry. Customs may first check that no export benefit or drawback was claimed on the car. The car is to be released on a bond promising to cooperate if any penalty or detention charge is later demanded.

Facts

Denis Vanin, a Russian national living in Goa, bought an Indian made Mahindra Thar in Goa in 2022 and paid GST and road tax. On 5 July 2024 he drove it out of India through the Sanauli land border into Nepal. Customs let it pass as a conveyance under Section 43 of the Customs Act, 1962, without an export clearance under Section 51. After driving through several countries he shipped the car in a container from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Nhava Sheva, arriving on 17 November 2024. Customs orally demanded duty of 250 percent, said he must file an electronic bill of entry on ICEGATE, and said the car was not eligible for the re-import exemption under Notification No.45/2017-Cus because it had no Section 51 clearance. ICEGATE would not accept the filing without an IEC or GSTIN. He filed a writ petition.

Key provisions

• Section 43(1), Customs Act, 1962 — Exemption of certain classes of conveyances from certain provisions of this Chapter