Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XV — Appeals and Revision

Section 130A. Application to High Court

Customs Act, 1962

Bare Act

Application to High Court. —

(1) The Principal Commissioner of Customs orCommissioner of Customs or the other party may, within one hundred and eightydays of the date upon which he is served with notice of an order under section129B passed before the 1st day of July, 2003 (notbeing an order relating, among other things, to the determination of anyquestion having a relation to the rate of duty of customs or to the value ofgoods for purposes of assessment), by application in the prescribed form,accompanied, where the application is made by the other party, by a fee of twohundred rupees, apply to the High Court to direct the Appellate Tribunal torefer to the High Court any question of law arising from such order of theTribunal.

(2) The Principal Commissioner of Customs orCommissioner of Customs or the other party applying to the High Court undersub-section (1) shall clearly state the question of law which he seeks to bereferred to the High Court and shall also specify the paragraph in the order ofthe Appellate Tribunal relevant to the question sought to be referred.

(3) On receipt of notice that an application has been made undersub-section (1), the person against whom such application has been made, may,notwithstanding that he may not have filed such application, file, withinforty-five days of the receipt of the notice, a memorandum of cross-objectionsverified in the prescribed manner against any part of the order in relation towhich an application for reference has been made and such memorandum shall bedisposed of by the High Court as if it were an application presented within thetime specified in sub-section (1).

(3A) The High Court may admit an application or permitthe filing of a memorandum of cross-objections after the expiry of the relevantperiod referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3), if it is satisfiedthat there was sufficient cause for not filing the same within that period.

(4) If, on an application made under sub-section (1), the High Courtdirects the Appellate Tribunal to refer the question of law raised in theapplication, the Appellate Tribunal shall, within one hundred and twenty daysof the receipt of such direction, draw up a statement of the case and refer itto the High Court.

Judgments on Section 130A

  • The Principal Commissioner Of Customs vs M/S. Lucky Exports — Karnataka High Court, 12 Dec 2025. A person invoking an exemption notification must strictly comply with and clearly establish every condition of the notification, and in case of doubt or ambiguity the benefit goes to the State, not the assessee.
  • Commissioner Of Customs Export vs Ravindra Kumar — Delhi High Court, 18 Sep 2025. Where a penalty under Section 114 has already been imposed and upheld, the Court may, having regard to the limited role of the person, treat it as sufficient and decline to impose the further Section 114AA penalty,…
  • M.K. Agrotech Pvt Ltd vs The Commissioner Of Customs (Appeals) — Karnataka High Court, 28 Apr 2025. Adhoc 1% handling charges are chargeable to customs duty where the actual charges are not ascertainable, and a Section 27 refund claim must be examined against an unchallenged assessment and the Mafatlal/Wipro…
  • Commissioner Of Customs, Ahmedabad vs Baroda Rayons Corporation Ltd — Gujarat High Court, 2 Jan 2023. If recourse to a Board circular, read in isolation, would have the effect of nullifying an adjudication confirming duty that has attained finality, such interpretation is necessarily bad in law.
  • Commissioner Of Customs, Kolkata vs M/S. Initiating Explosives Systems I… — Supreme Court of India, 24 Jan 2008. A one-way equity holding by a foreign supplier in the importer does not make them 'related persons' absent mutuality of interest, and the burden of proving undervaluation — requiring contemporaneous imports of identical…