2026-VIL-552-DEL-CU
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CUSTOMS High Court Cases

Customs - Retrospective application of Notification to pre-notification shipments – Petitioner imports platinum alloy jewellery which was dispatched on 30th and 31st March 2026 and arrived at Indian ports on 1st and 2nd April 2026 at 01:39 AM – The Notification No. 02/2026-27 dated 01st April, 2026 changing the import policy from "free" to "restricted" for such goods is published in the e-Official Gazette on 2nd April 2026 at 20:52:28 hours - Customs authorities refuse to clear the goods citing the new restriction, though the goods had arrived before the notification was published - Whether a notification restricting imports can be applied retrospectively to goods that have already been dispatched and arrived at Indian ports before the notification was published in the Official Gazette – HELD – The said Notification cannot be applied retrospectively to the goods in question. A notification or subordinate legislation becomes enforceable only upon publication in the Official Gazette in a manner reasonably calculated to bring it to the notice of all affected persons - The requirement of publication in the Gazette is not an empty formality but an act by which an executive decision is transformed into law. With the shift from analog to digital publication of gazettes, the exact date and time of electronic publication assumes significance. Delegated legislation can only be prospective in nature unless the parent statute expressly vests the authority with power to make rules with retrospective effect. Under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992, no such power exists to make amendments retrospectively - Since the goods arrived at Indian ports on 2nd April 2026 at 01:39 AM, approximately twenty hours before the Notification was published at 20:52:28 hours on the same date, the Notification cannot travel backward in time to affect these consignments. The goods were imported prior to the notification coming into force and are therefore liable to be cleared in accordance with the conditions that prevailed before the notification's issuance - The petitioner's goods be processed for release immediately without requiring import authorization or license under the impugned notification, subject to fulfillment of other official procedures - The writ petition is allowed
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