HC Wants Show to Comply with Customs Act, 1962

The high court on Friday directed that customs rules and notifications should be adhered to, and customs duties collected from participants at Aero India Show-2011.

Chief justice JS Khehar and justice AS Bopanna were, on Friday, hearing a PIL filed by Right to Information activist Saurabh Lakhani and customs expert Arun Goyal, who contended that ever since the first aero show in the city in 1996, customs rules had been breached.

The court directed that the Customs Act, 1962, be observed stringently. The rules require filing of bills of entry for import of aircraft, and shipping bills for re-export for all goods brought in for exhibition, including civil and military aircraft.

The petitioners said that over 100 civil and military aircraft, worth more than US $10 billion, have been imported in the past seven aero shows, without bills of entries and re-export shipping bills, causing losses and endangering national security.

The petitioners questioned whether dues on fuel, stocks and give-away gift items for prospective buyers were ever collected.

The court took a serious view of the matter and directed the customs commissioner to appear before it in person in the afternoon.

Customs commissioner of Bangalore, B Bhattacharya appeared before the court in the second half of the hearing and said that all rules and notifications would be complied with.

The division bench disposed the public interest litigation after the customs commissioner’s statement, with directions that all customs rules and notifications be complied with in the aero show this year.

(We have covered the story earlier under “Aero Show in Bangalore 09-13 Feb 2011” in the Weekly Issue Vol. 27 No. 40 dated 29 December 2010 – 04 January 2011)

[Source: DNA, Bangalore dated Saturday, February 5, 2011]