GLAMSTONE COSMETICS PVT. LTD. THR DIRECTOR A B DHANUKA v. THE UNION OF INDIA AND ORS
Import of Cosmetics without Mandatory CDSCO Registration Constitutes Prohibited Goods under Customs Act, Rendering Warehousing and Re-export Claims Legally Untenable.
Court: Bombay High Court
Citation: 2026:BHC-AS:11564-DB
Decision Date: 09-03-2026
List of Laws
The Customs Act, 1962; The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; The Cosmetics Rules, 2020; Foreign Trade Policy, 2023; Constitution of India, Article 226
- Facts: The petitioner imported three consignments of cosmetics and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) from the UAE into India in November 2025. Instead of filing Bills of Entry for home consumption, the petitioner filed Warehousing Bills of Entry, claiming the goods were intended for re-export to earn profits due to lower warehousing costs in India. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized the goods under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962, alleging undervaluation and a lack of mandatory registration certificates from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) required under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The petitioner argued that since the goods were meant for re-export and not for clearance into the domestic market, the CDSCO license was not a prerequisite for the initial import into a bonded warehouse.
- Procedural Posture: The petitioner filed a Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the seizure memo and for a direction to allow the re-export of the subject goods.
- Issue: Whether goods imported into Indian territorial waters without mandatory regulatory licenses can be treated as legal imports merely because they are intended for warehousing and re-export, and whether such goods escape the definition of "prohibited goods" under the Customs Act.
- Holding: No, the petition was rejected. The court held that the import was illegal as it lacked mandatory CDSCO registration at the time of entry into Indian territorial waters, making the goods "prohibited goods" liable for confiscation.
- Reasoning: The Court reasoned that under Section 2(23) and 2(27) of the Customs Act, "import" is complete the moment goods enter the territorial waters of India. Section 2(33) defines "prohibited goods" as any goods whose import is subject to any prohibition under the Act or "any other law for the time being in force". The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Cosmetics Rules, 2020, expressly prohibit the import of cosmetics without a valid registration certificate. The Court found that there is no distinction between a Bill of Entry for home consumption and one for warehousing regarding the requirement to comply with "any other law". Section 69, which allows re-export of warehoused goods, applies only to goods that were lawfully imported in the first instance. Since the petitioner lacked the mandatory CDSCO license at the threshold of entry, the goods were contraband, and the plea for re-export was an afterthought to circumvent the law.
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