IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR MONDAY, THE 25TH JANUARY 2010 / 5TH MAGHA 1931 WP(C).No. 1145 of 2010(P) ------------------------------------- PETITIONER(S): ----------------------- HASSAN ABDUL AZIZ SHAIKH, TATMABAI ZINDAWALI CHAWL, 2ND STREET, ROOM NO.10, GURAISH NAGAR, KURLA, MUMBAI-70. BY ADV. MR.P.A.AUGUSTIAN, MR.T.R.JAGADEESH, MR.T.S.BIJU. RESPONDENT(S): ------------------------- THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, CUSTOM HOUSE, WILLINGTON ISLAND, KOCHI-682 009. BY ADV. MR.JOHN VARGHESE,SC,CEN.BOARD OF EXCISE & CUSTOMS THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 25/01/2010, ALONG WITH WPC NO. 1212 OF 2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: rs. T.R. RAMACHANDRAN NAIR, J. ----------------------------------------- W.P.(C) Nos.1145 & 1212 OF 2010 ----------------------------------------- Dated this the 25th day of January, 2010. J U D G M E N T In both these writ petitions, identical reliefs are sought for and therefore, they are disposed of by this common judgment. 2. The petitioner in W.P.(C) No.1145/2010 is an appellant before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal against an order passed by the respondent herein, produced as Exhibit P2. Exhibit P1 is the copy of the order passed by the Joint Commissioner of Customs in relation to a Toyota Land Cruiser car brought by the petitioner therein by way of import. Confiscation of the car was ordered with an option to the petitioner to re- export the car on payment of a fine of Rs.1,50,000/- and a penalty of Rs.75,000/-. The appeal was disposed of by Exhibit P2 by the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) partially modifying the order Exhibit P1. He was given an option to redeem the vehicle on payment of fine of Rs.1 lakh and penalty stands W.P.(C) Nos.1145 & 1212/2010 2 reduced to Rs.40,000/-. These two orders are under challenge before the Tribunal by the petitioner as well as by the Department. 3. The petitioner in W.P.(C)No.1145/2010 had earlier approached this Court by filing W.P.(C) No.26732/2009 seeking for a direction to release the vehicle. Exhibit P4 is the copy of the judgment therein. This Court, at that point of time, took the view that the entitlement of the petitioner to obtain release of the car will have to be decided either in appeal which the petitioner has already filed or in the appeal which the respondent proposes to file from Exhibit P10. 4. Exhibit P6 is the copy of the appeal filed by the Department. Exhibit P7 is the order passed by the Tribunal in the stay petition. After filing Exhibit P9 representation seeking for release of the vehicle, the petitioner has filed this writ petition. 5. In W.P.(C) No.1212/2010 also, the facts are identical. Exhibit P1 is the copy of the order passed by the Joint Commissioner of Customs. Exhibit P2 is the order passed in appeal by the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals). Seeking for W.P.(C) Nos.1145 & 1212/2010 3 release of the vehicle, the petitioner filed W.P.(C) No.26358/2009 which was disposed of by Exhibit P4 judgment. Therein this Court took the view that in the event of the respondent filing an appeal before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, the petitioner can move the Tribunal seeking release of the vehicle on terms. Thereafter, the Revenue filed an appeal as per Exhibit P5. The stay petition was dismissed by the Tribunal which is evident from Exhibit P6. 6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that there may be a direction to release the cars in the light of the fact that the Revenue is only challenging one of the conditions provided in Exhibit P1. This is a matter entirely for the petitioners to raise before the Appellate Tribunal in the light of the judgments rendered by this Court earlier, as per Exhibit P4. 7. It is the case of the learned counsel for the petitioners that the appeals could not be disposed of so far because of the non co-operation by the Department, which is denied by the learned counsel appearing for the Department. There will be a direction to the Customs, Excise and Service W.P.(C) Nos.1145 & 1212/2010 4 Tax Appellate Tribunal to expedite the hearing of the appeals and dispose of the same within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. These writ petitions are disposed of as above. T.R. RAMACHANDRAN NAIR JUDGE smp