HC orders Mumbai customs to release feeding tubes imported by cancer survivor from US

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday directed Mumbai customs to handover a consignment of feeding tubes imported by a cancer survivor from the United States of

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday directed Mumbai customs to handover a consignment of feeding tubes imported by a cancer survivor from the United States of America (US) to his lawyers.

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A division bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice NR Borkar ordered DHL Express (India), which brought in the consignment, to file the bill of entry with the assistant commissioner of customs at Air Cargo Complex in Andheri on Wednesday itself. The customs department was directed to process the documents and ensure that the consignment containing the feeding tubes is handed over to the petitioner’s lawyers, Crawford Bayley & Co, or their representative, within 24 hours thereafter.

The petitioner, an overseas citizen of India, had moved HC, stating that in December 2016 he was diagnosed with oral cancer, and due to remedial surgical operations, his intake of food was only possible through a feeding tube.

He said the feeding tubes are not available in India and are required to be imported from the US, and there is no alternative available. He added that since his stock had depleted, he had ordered four boxes of the feeding tubes labelled ‘Osmolite Nutrio N-Food for Tube Feeding Patient’ from the US through DHL Express. However, the assistant commissioner of customs at Air Cargo Complex had withheld the packets.

His counsel, advocate Prashant Asher on Tuesday, moved for urgent orders contending that the petitioner had a limited stock available with him, which will last only a few days. Acting on his plea, the bench had on Tuesday issued a notice to the customs authorities in Mumbai and had asked them to explain the difficulty in releasing the consignment.