Tribunal sets aside DRI order confiscating 8000 kg shark fins seized for ‘illegal export’

The appellant firm argued that that no contracts were entered into between the appellant and the overseas buyers, therefore, charges levelled in the impugned order could not be sustained.

Written by Omkar Gokhale

Mumbai | August 18, 2025 07:42 IST

Shark finning involves removal of fins from sharks, when the shark is alive and thereafter they are discharged into the ocean. (Express Photo)

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) earlier this month set aside 2019 order of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ( DRI) that confiscated over 8000 kg of shark fins worth over Rs. 55 crore for their alleged illegal export in the international market, to China, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

The tribunal found no merit in the DRI order and concluded that shark fins were not liable to be confiscated as there was no attempt to export the same, therefore the order passed by Additional Director General (Adjudication), DRI, Mumbai, imposing Rs. 7 crore penalty on the proprietor cannot be sustained.

The officers of Mumbai Zonal Unit of DRI had on September 1, 2018 conducted a search on office premises of the appellant firm Global Impex Trading and had recovered over 8000 kgs of shark fins.

Shark finning involves removal of fins from sharks, when the shark is alive and thereafter they are discharged into the ocean. The central government in 2015 prohibited export of shark fins and the Central Environment Ministry had prohibited removal of shark fins on board a vessel in the sea, stating that possession of shark fins not naturally attached to shark’s body amounted to hunting.

The CESTAT coram of SK Mohanty (Judicial member) and MM Parthiban (Technical member) on August 8 passed an order on plea by Global Impex Trading, a firm indulged in the business of export of fish and other marine products, seeking direction to quash and set aside October 21, 2019 order that ordered confiscation of over 8000 kg of shark fins stored at Mumbai and Verawal, Gujarat.

The said order had a redetermined the value of 2961 kg of shark fins as Rs. 20.54 crore and that of 5061.88 kg of shark fins as 35.12 crore. The DRI had also imposed a penalty of Rs. 7 crore on the firm. Aggrieved by the same, the firm approached the Appellate Tribunal with an appeal challenging the 2019 order.

Advocates Ramchandra Mattiyil and Ashmita Kurulekar for Global Impex argued that while the DRI had proceeded based on statements of the proprietor M Sharafat Ali and other employees of the firm recorded by the agency, they had retracted the said statements before the Magistrate court, stating that they were recorded by DRI officers by using threat and coercion and were not given voluntarily, therefore the same cannot be accepted.

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The firm further argued that storage or trading of shark fins in the domestic market is not prohibited by law and the department proceeded on assumption that the appellant firm was attempting to export the same and the same was incorrect.

The appellant firm argued that that no contracts were entered into between the appellant and the overseas buyers, therefore, charges levelled in the impugned order could not be sustained.

The CESTAT held, “We find that the department had not brought on any iota of evidence to prove their case that the appellant had intended to export the shark fins….In absence of any corroborative evidences, redetermination of value, that too at a much higher price in the impugned order, in our considered view, is contrary to Customs Valuation (Determination Of Value Of Export Goods) Rules 2007 read with Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962.

The Tribunal, allowing the appeal concluded that “the shark fins were not liable for confiscation inasmuch as there was no attempt to export the same by the appellant, therefore the impugned order deserved to be set aside.”

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