NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought the response of the Centre and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved's plea challenging seizure of several tonnes of red sandalwood it was going to export to China.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar issued notice to the Centre and the DRI seeking their stand on Patanjali's plea for release of its goods which, according to it, was authorised for export by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
The company has claimed in its plea that even the export authorization issued by DGFT was seized by DRI.
The Customs Department and the DRI had recently seized over 50 tonnes of red sandalwood logs that Patanjali had bought in an e-auction held by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department.
Currently, only inferior grades of sandalwood are allowed for export and the consignment was seized as it contained superior variants, the DRI had said defending its decision.
The court will hear the matter next on April 18.