IndiGo has moved the Delhi High Court seeking a refund of over Rs 900 crore paid as customs duty on aircraft engines and parts re-imported into India after overseas repairs. The petition argued that the levy of customs duty on such re-imports was unconstitutional and amounted to a double levy on the same transaction.
The matter was heard on Friday by a Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Shail Jain. However, Justice Shail Jain recused from hearing the matter as her son is a pilot with IndiGo. The case will now come up before another Bench, subject to the order of the Chief Justice.
The petition said that customs authorities compelled IndiGo to pay the duty to secure clearance of aircraft engines and other critical components. The airline submitted that, unlike GST, which is self-assessed, customs clearance depends on the approval of officers and aircraft could not be grounded indefinitely. As a result, it paid the duty under protest across more than 4,000 bills of entry, amounting to over Rs 900 crore, said the petition.
When IndiGo later filed refund claims, customs authorities refused on the grounds that the airline must first seek reassessment of each bill of entry. IndiGo argued that it had paid duty under protest in every case and that speaking orders had already been passed on the protested assessments, against which appeals were filed.
