In Brief
The Commissioner of Customs appealed against the High Court's rejection of an application for reference under Section 130A of the Customs Act. The key issue was whether the High Court must mandatorily call for a statement from the Customs Tribunal before deciding such reference applications. The Supreme Court held that Section 130A's language, particularly its conditional 'if' clause, does not impose a mandatory requirement for the High Court to obtain the Tribunal's statement in every case. However, noting apparent conflict with a prior Supreme Court order, the Court referred the matter to a larger Bench for authoritative resolution and remitted the case to the High Court for fresh examination.
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