Bombay High Court Stays DGFT Notification Changing Classification Of Roasted Areca Nuts; DGFT Issues Fresh Notification

The Bombay High Court has granted a stay on the Notification issued by the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) seeking to alter the classification of “Roasted Areca Nuts”. Subsequently, on 15th October, 2025, the DGFT, having realised the mistake, issued a fresh Notification rectifying the same. Justices B.P. Colabawalla and Amit S. Jamsandekar were addressing a petition seeking a declaration that Notification No.02/2025-26 dated 2nd April 2025, issued by DGFT to alter the classification of “Roasted Areca Nuts”, is ultra vires Article 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India. The declaration is sought on the basis that the said Notification issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade (“DGFT”) seeks to modify and change the classification of Roasted Areca Nuts from Chapter Heading 20081920 to Chapter Heading 08028090. According to the assessee/Petitioner, the DGFT, though having the power to either restrict or prohibit the import of certain goods, has no power to change the classification of the goods from one Chapter Heading to another Chapter Heading. The assessee relies upon Section 11A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, which empowers the Central Government to amend the 1st Schedule of the said Tariff Act and the procedure to be followed for the said amendment. The bench found that the notification issued by the DGFT is by invoking the powers under Section 3 read with Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 read with paragraphs 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, as amended from time to time. The bench referred to paragraphs 1.02 and 2.01 and opined that none of these paragraphs, at least prima facie, permit the DGFT to issue a notification changing the classification of the goods from Chapter 20 to Chapter 08, or for that matter, from any one chapter to another chapter. This power is with the Central Government only under Section 11A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The bench found that the assessee/petitioner has made out a strong prima facie case for the grant of ad-interim relief. In view of the above, the bench granted a stay of the Notification issued by the DGFT seeking to change the classification of “Roasted Areca Nuts”. The bench stated that, “since we have stayed the operation of the impugned notifications issued by the DGFT, we direct that the Petitioners shall be entitled to provisionally release the Roasted Areca Nuts imported by the Petitioners, on furnishing a bond in the format required by the Customs Department. We make it clear that no other conditions shall be imposed for provisionally releasing the Roasted Areca Nuts imported by the Petitioners…” Case Title: Shri. Indu Shekhar v. Union of India & Anr. Case Number: WRIT PETITION NO.5253 OF 2025 Counsel for Petitioner/Assessee: Mr.D. B. Shroff, Senior Advocate a/w Brijesh Pathak, Dulraj Jain, Aditi Ravidas, Vaishnavi Murkute Counsel for Respondent/Department: Mr.Jitendra B. Mishra a/w Ashutosh Mishra, Rupesh Dubey Click Here To Read/Download The Order Click Here To Read/Download Notification

Bombay High Court Stays DGFT Notification Changing Classification Of Roasted Areca Nuts; DGFT Issues Fresh Notification

Mehak Dhiman

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