HC slams Customs for blocking re-test, orders fresh check of seized cashews

The case involved 24-year-old Vyom Raichanna, proprietor of Trinity Agro Products in Vashi, whose consignments of cashews were seized in March and April 2025

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court last week came down heavily on Customs officials for blocking a facility that the court said was clearly meant to help businesses. In a copy of the order, which was made available on Monday, the court directed customs authorities to allow fresh testing of cashew nuts, that were seized from a Navi Mumbai trader and declared problematic.

Bombay High Court at Fort, in Mumbai (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times)

The case involved 24-year-old Vyom Raichanna, proprietor of Trinity Agro Products in Vashi, whose consignments of cashews were seized in March and April 2025. A Kerala-based laboratory tested the goods and declared them problematic.

Raichanna, through senior advocate Sujay Kantawala, contested the findings, pointing out that previous batches of cashews tested in labs in Maharashtra were cleared for human consumption. He cited a 2017 government circular that permits importers to request retesting of samples as a “trade facilitation measure”.

Customs authorities, however, refused, saying the request was delayed and that only the remnants of earlier samples could be retested, not fresh ones.

The division bench of Justices M S Sonak and Advait M Sethna strongly disagreed, saying, “We wonder at the resistance which the Customs Authorities are offering to the re-testing of this product. Such resistance is not quite consistent with the spirit of the guidelines contained in the public notice dated 28 July 2017.”

They underlined that the guidelines themselves state re-testing “is a trade facilitation measure, which, generally, will not be denied in the ordinary course.” The court also linked the case to the government’s larger policy push, noting: “The Government of India is taking several measures for ‘Ease of Doing Business’… However, when it comes to implementation, stiff resistance is offered by officials who are otherwise duty-bound to promote it.”

The court ordered that fresh samples be drawn in Raichanna’s presence within five days and sent to the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL), New Delhi, a government-run facility, for independent testing. The lab has been asked to submit its report within a month.

The order also allows Raichanna to seek provisional release of his goods once conditions are met. While the bench considered imposing costs on the customs department, it refrained, expressing hope that officials would “hereafter contribute to the promotion” of trade facilitation policies.