Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Union Of India Through Secretary vs M/S Adani Power Ltd on 28 August, 2025
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4489 OF 2023
UNION OF INDIA
THROUGH SECRETARY & OTHER ...APPELLANTS
VERSUS
M/S ADANI POWER LTD. ...RESPONDENTS
WITH
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4494 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4398 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4485 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4487 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NO.4486 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NOs.5703-5706 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NOs.5733-5734 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NOs.6754-6770 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NOs.6866-6874 OF 2023
CIVIL APPEAL NO.5696 OF 2023
AND
CIVIL APPEAL NO.5708 OF 2023
ORDER
Since common questions of law arise in these civil appeals, they have been clubbed together and heard and disposed of by this common judgment.
Signature Not VerifiedDigitally signed by NEETU SACHDEVA Date: 2025.09.20 12:52:49 IST Reason: 1
2. For ease of reference, the details of these appeals are extracted by way of the following table:
S. Civil Date of the Name of the Remarks No. Appeal No. Impugned High Court Order
1. CIVIL 04.11.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4489 Ahmedabad OF 2023
2. CIVIL 04.11.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4494 Ahmedabad OF 2023
3. CIVIL 18.12.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4398 Ahmedabad OF 2023
4. CIVIL 04.11.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4485 Ahmedabad OF 2023
5. CIVIL 04.11.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4487 Ahmedabad OF 2023
6. CIVIL 18.12.2009 High Court of APPEAL Gujarat at NO. 4486 Ahmedabad OF 2023
7. CIVIL 30.07.2010 High Court of APPEAL Andhra NOs. 5703- Pradesh at 5706 OF Hyderabad 2023
8. CIVIL 09.02.2011 High Court of APPEAL Karnataka at 2 S. Civil Date of the Name of the Remarks No. Appeal No. Impugned High Court Order NOs. 5733- Bangalore 5734 OF 2023
9. CIVIL 27.04.2012 High Court of APPEAL Judicature at NOs. 6754- Madras 6770 OF 2023
10. CIVIL 27.04.2012 High Court of APPEAL Judicature at NOs.6866- Madras 6874 OF 2023
11. CIVIL 18.02.2014 High Court of APPEAL Andhra NO. 5696 Pradesh at OF 2023 Hyderabad
12. CIVIL 13.01.2023 High Court of APPEAL Judicature at NO. 5708 Bombay OF 2023
3. We have heard learned senior counsel and learned counsel appearing for the respective parties.
4. We take into consideration the impugned judgment in Civil Appeal No. 4489 of 2023 (Union of India through Secretary and others vs. M/S Adani Power Ltd.) for the purpose of our discussion. 4.1 In the impugned judgment, the following three questions were raised:
3
“1. Whether export duty can be imposed under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962?
2. Whether export duty can be levied under the Provisions of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005?
3.Whether export duty can be imposed under the Customs Act, 1962 by incorporating the definition of the terms `Export’ under the SEZ Act, 2005 into the Customs Act, 1962?” The answer to the first question has been given in paragraphs 41.1.3 and 41.1.4 of the said judgment.
4.2 Insofar as the second question is concerned, on discussion of the point of controversy in paragraphs 41.2.10 and 41.2.11, the High Court has answered against the appellant(s) herein.
4.3 Similarly, the third question has been considered by the High Court in paragraph 41.3 and after discussion, the answer to the said question has been given in paragraph 41.3.4 of the impugned judgment. Consequently, the High Court has held in paragraph 42 as under:
“42. In view of the above discussion and findings arrived at as well as conclusion drawn, the levy of export duty on goods supplied from the Domestic Tariff Area to the Special Economic Zone is not justified. The petitioners are, therefore, not to be called upon to pay export duty on movement of goods from Domestic Tariff Area to Special Economic Zone units or developments.”
5. We have considered the contentions raised by the learned 4 senior counsel for the appellant(s) in light of the points for consideration raised by the High Court as well as the provisions of the Acts, which are Section 12 along with Sections 2(18) and 2(27) of the Customs Act, 1962 in juxtaposition with Sections 2(i), 2(m) and 2 (za) as well as Section 51 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (for short, `the SEZ Act) which are extracted as under for immediate reference -
“THE CUSTOMS ACT, 1962
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— XXX (18) “export” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking out of India to a place outside India;
(27) “India” includes the territorial waters of India;
12. Dutiable goods.- (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, or any other law for the time being in force, duties of customs shall be levied at such rates as may be specified under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or any other law for the time being in force, on goods imported into, or exported from, India. (2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply in respect of all goods belonging to Government as they apply in respect of goods not belonging to Government.
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES ACT, 2005 Sections “2(i) “Domestic Tariff Area” means the 5 whole of India (including the territorial waters and continental shelf) but does not include the areas of the Special Economic Zones;
2 (m) “export” means –
(i) taking goods, or providing services, out of India, from a Special Economic Zone, by land, sea or air or by any other mode, whether physical or otherwise; or
(ii) supplying goods, or providing services, from the Domestic Tariff Area to a Unit or Developer; or
(iii) supplying goods, or providing services, from one Unit to another Unit or Developer, in the same or different Special Economic Zone;
2 (za) "Special Economic Zone" means each Special Economic Zone notified under the proviso to sub-section (4) of section 3 and subsection (1) of section 4 (including Free Trade and Warehousing Zone) and includes an existing Special Economic Zone;
51. Act to have overriding effect. - (1) The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act.”
6. We find that the High Court has rightly arrived at the conclusions in the aforesaid paragraphs on a correct interpretation of the provisions of the aforesaid two Acts. In the circumstance, we do not find any reason to interfere with the impugned judgment. Hence, the appeals are dismissed.
7. On a conjoint reading of the aforesaid provisions, we find that 6 Section 12 of the Customs Act, 1962 is the charging Section. However, under Section 26 of the SEZ Act, power is reserved to grant an exemption or a concession if under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, a duty is leviable as per the charging Sections.
8. It is also necessary to observe as submitted by the learned senior counsel for the respondent(s) that the Madras High Court as well as the Andhra Pradesh High Court have also taken a similar view as discussed in the aforesaid impugned judgment. In the circumstances, all appeals arising therefrom are also dismissed.
All pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
………………………………J. [B.V. NAGARATHNA] ………………………………J. [R. MAHADEVAN] NEW DELHI AUGUST 28, 2025 7 ITEM NO.105 COURT NO.3 SECTION III S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Civil Appeal No(s). 4489/2023 UNION OF INDIA THROUGH SECRETARY & ORS. Appellant(s) VERSUS M/S ADANI POWER LTD. Respondent(s) [ AS ITEM NO. 105 ] WITH C.A. No. 4494/2023 (III) C.A. No. 4398/2023 (III) C.A. No. 4485/2023 (III) C.A. No. 4487/2023 (III) IA No. 171165/2022 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT C.A. No. 4486/2023 (III) C.A. Nos. 5703-5706/2023 (XII-A) FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING ON IA 1/2011 FOR ADDITION / DELETION / MODIFICATION PARTIES ON IA 95158/2023 C.A. Nos. 5733-5734/2023 (IV-A) C.A. Nos. 6754-6770/2023 (XII) FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING ON IA 1/2013 FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING / CURING THE DEFECTS ON IA 18/2013 C.A. Nos. 6866-6874/2023 (XII) C.A. No. 5696/2023 (XII-A) C.A. No. 5708/2023 (III) FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA 94826/2023 FOR APPLICATION FOR SUBSTITUTION ON IA 202455/2023 IA No. 202455/2023 - APPLICATION FOR SUBSTITUTION IA No. 94826/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT Date : 28-08-2025 These appeals were called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE B.V. NAGARATHNA 8 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE R. MAHADEVAN For Appellant(s) : Mr. N Venkataraman, A.S.G. Ms. Nisha Bagchi, Sr. Adv. Ms. Swarupma Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Raghvendra S Srivatsa, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Shashank Bajpai, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Vikram S. Nankani, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Kumar Visalaksh, Adv. Mr. Udit Jain, Adv.
Mr. Pranav Bansal, Adv. Mr. Praveen Kumar, AOR Mr. Shamik Shirishbhai Sanjanwala, AOR Mr. Aditya Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Aarushi Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Ks Naveen Kumar, Adv. Mr. S Sukumaran, Adv.
Mr. Anand Sukumar, AOR Mr. Bhupesh Pathak, Adv. Mr. Bhupesh Kumar, Adv. Mrs. Ruche Anand, Adv.
Mr. Vikram S. Nankani, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kumar Visalaksh, Adv. Mr. Udit Jain, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Vikas, AOR Mr. R. Parthasarathy, AOR Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Mr. Sahil Monga, AOR Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Charanya Lakshmikumaran, AOR Ms. Neha Choudhary, Adv. Ms. Umang Motiyani, Adv. Mr. Ayush Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Nitum Jain, Adv.
Mr. Swastik Mishra, Adv. Ms. Medha Sinha, Adv.
Mr. A. Lakshminarayanan, AOR Mr. Niranjan, J.V., Adv. Mr. M Laxmi Mahendraa, Adv.9
Mr. M Munusamy, Adv.
Mr. Pinaki Misra, Sr. Adv. M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Dewan, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Thapa, Adv. Ms. Megha Dugar, Adv.
Ms. Shruti Pandey, Adv. Mr. Tribhuvan N Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sudarsh Menon, AOR Mr. Udbhav Singh, Adv.
Mrs. Nimisha Menon, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following ORDER Learned counsel for the respondent in C.A. No.5708 of 2023 submitted that in order to cure the defects in the application filed for substitution, the complete name and address of the entity to be substituted is being provided (by way of memo). Taking note of the same, the defects are overruled.
The application for substitution is allowed.
The respondent/entity shall be shown as -
“Embassy Pune Techzone Pvt. Ltd. Embassy TechZone, PL03A, Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, Phase II, Hinjewadi, Pune, Maharashtra – 411 057” The Civil Appeals are dismissed in terms of the signed order.
Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
(NEETU SACHDEVA) (DIVYA BABBAR) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH) (Signed order is placed on the file) 10