Customs To Pay Ludhiana Importer Rs 50 Lakh For Delayed Kiwi Consignment

The Punjab and Haryana High Court lambasted the Customs department and a private shipping company, instructing them to pay Rs 50 lakh in compensation to a Ludhiana-based fruit importer.

The petitioner suffered a massive loss in 2023 after his kiwi consignment weighing 89,420 kilograms, imported from Chile via Dubai, perished due to a three-month delay. 

In April 2023, the company imported a consignment of perishable kiwi fruit from Dubai to be transported to the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Ludhiana. 

But the fruit, valued at $ 80,478 (approximately Rs 66 lakh), was left stuck at the Mundra port for more than three months before decaying as the Customs department refused to permit the submission of a manual bill of entry and failed to update the Import General Manifest (IGM) to reflect the right destination, as per Bar And Bench.

The Bench, comprising Justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Sanjay Vashisth, held the shipping company M/s Transliner Maritime Pvt. Ltd. and the Customs officials in Mundra and Ludhiana responsible for their "insensitivity" and "lackadaisical approach" to perishable goods.

The Bench ordered the Customs department to pay Rs 50 lakh in compensation to the importer.

"The petitioner/importer would be entitled to compensation calculated conservatively at Rs 50 lakh as the kiwi weighing 89,420 kilograms was destroyed on account of delay in release by the respondents," the court said.

The importer will also get a refund of the Customs duty he already paid for the consignment, along with 6 per cent annual interest.

In addition to providing relief to the petitioner, the court's 37-page ruling made a strong case for structural changes to guarantee the prompt processing of perishable goods.