High Court of DelhiW.P.(C)/3225/2020

Atul Goel v. Directorate General Of Shipping

2020-05-28Hon'Ble Ms. Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal2 pages

$~6 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 3225/2020 ATUL GOEL .....Petitioner Through:

Mr.Rajesh Sonthalia, Advocate.

versus DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF SHIPPING ..... Respondent Through:

None.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE SANGITA DHINGRA SEHGAL

O R D E R

% 28.05.2020 [VIA VIDEO CONFERENCING] The present writ petition filed by the petitioner is in the nature of mandamus, directing the Respondents to waive of all charges of demurrage, ground rent, storage in port, detention, dwell time, interest, customs duty, penalty and others on containers lying for customs clearance at ICD Loni Port for the period of lockdown and 60 days after the lockdown period in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic.

The brief facts are, that the Petitioner is an importer of scrap and regularly imports it through ICD Loni and other ports. In the wake of COVID 19 pandemic, the Respondent No. 1 (Directorate General of Shipping, Mumbai) vide order No.7/2020 dated 29.03.2020 & order No.8/2020 dated 30.03.2020 issued an advisory on non-charging of container detention charges on imports and export shipment, for the period between 22.03.2020 to 14.04.2020 (both days inclusive). Vide Order No.11 of 2020 dated 22.04.2020, the Respondent No. 1 extended the validity of the Order Nos. 7 of 2020 and modified Order No. 8 of 2020. The Order No. 7 of 2020 was extended till 03.05.2020 in light of the lockdown due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits, that the benefit of the abovementioned Orders by the Respondent No. 1 should be extended till the validity of the lockdown and 60 days after the lockdown period citing economic problems such as financial crunch which will persist even after the lockdown.

The Petitioner states that the present writ petition be treated as his representation.

Taking into account the loss caused to the business sector coupled with the fact that earlier vide order No.s 7/2020 and 8/2020 the respondents themselves have issued advisory for waiver of charges on imports and exports of shipment, the present petition be treated as representation. Let the representation of the Petitioner be decided within one week after filing the same by the petitioner before the Respondent and after affording an opportunity to present his case. In view of the above, the present petition stands disposed of. SANGITA DHINGRA SEHGAL, J MAY 28, 2020/SU/afa