#High Sea Sales

The tribunal ruled that customs duty can only be recovered from the actual importer of goods, not from directors of companies that sold title documents on the high seas. This bars revenue from issuing joint several demands against high sea sellers' directors, protecting corporate officers from liability for obligations that legally belong solely to the importer.

CESTAT Ahmedabad rules that imports of Technical Grade Urea through State Trading Enterprises under high sea sales do not violate the Foreign Trade Policy, even without a DGFT license. The tribunal set aside confiscation and penalty orders, clarifying that such transactions are permissible under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, impacting importers relying on high sea sales mechanisms.