In Brief
The appellant imported chemical consignments in 1993 under an advance licence granted before a customs duty exemption was withdrawn. Part of the consignment arrived after the withdrawal but before a clarificatory notification restored the exemption. The High Court dismissed the appellant's writ petition, ruling they were not entitled to relief because they failed to produce the clarificatory notification and the State was unaware of it. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the State cannot claim ignorance of its own notifications. As the largest litigant with a constitutional duty to assist courts fairly, State authorities must know and apply their own statutory notifications and cannot use lack of awareness as a defence against granting statutory relief.
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