Facts of the Case

Balaji Rice Industries challenged the same DGFT Notification No. 31/2015-2020 dated 08.09.2022 banning export of broken rice (effective 09.09.2022), seeking to export over 13,000 MT of broken white rice under contracts with Swiss and Austrian buyers (Capezzana Commodities S.A. and VA Intertrading Aktiengesellschaft) entered into before the ban. The Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central Tax was impleaded as a formal respondent for customs clearance purposes; this is not a GST matter but a foreign trade policy dispute, materially identical to a related case involving another exporter (Sri Tharakarama Food Processors) decided the same day.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the export ban could be applied to pre-existing export contracts entered into before the notification took effect.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The export ban should not defeat consignments contractually committed before the notification came into force.

Respondent's Arguments

  • Not recorded — the matter was closed on the petitioner's own submission before the respondents' arguments were addressed on merits.

Court Order / Findings

  • The petitioner's Senior Counsel submitted that nothing remained for adjudication in the writ petition.
  • The Court closed the writ petition on this submission, with no order as to costs, and all pending miscellaneous applications were closed.

Important Clarification

As with the related matter decided the same day, this order records no finding on the legality of the export ban or on pre-existing export contracts — it was closed purely because the petitioner's counsel stated the issue had become moot. There is no GST ruling here at all; the case belongs to foreign trade/DGFT law.

Sections Involved

  • Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992
  • Constitution of India, Article 226

Decision – In Favour of

Disposed of/closed without a decision on merits, on the petitioner's own statement that nothing remained for adjudication.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati
  • Case Number: Writ Petition No. 34086 of 2022
  • Coram: Justice Ravi Cheemalapati
  • Date of Order: 21.09.2023

Link to Download the Order

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