Carmaker Škoda Auto Volkswagen India will have to re-argue its petition challenging a $1.4 billion tax demand after the Bombay High Court released the matter without delivering its verdict.
A bench of Justices B P Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla had reserved the matter for judgment in April 2025 but had not pronounced the verdict.
On Tuesday, the bench said it was releasing the petition as it could not adhere to the timeline prescribed by the Supreme Court for delivering judgments in reserved matters.
1 August 2026
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"Due to the exigency of work we have not been able to pronounce judgment till date. We release the above matter... which shall now be placed for hearing before the regular Bench," the High Court said.
The court also ordered that status quo be maintained for four weeks.
The dispute relates to a $1.4 billion tax demand raised by the Customs department against Škoda Auto Volkswagen India over the manner in which it imported vehicle parts.
According to the authorities, the company allegedly imported various unassembled car parts separately and declared them as individual components rather than as completely knocked down (CKD) units. CKD units attract an import duty of 30–35%, while individual components are subject to duties ranging between 5% and 15%.
The Customs department has alleged that the automaker structured its imports in separate shipments to pay lower duties. Škoda Auto Volkswagen India has challenged the tax demand, and the matter will now be heard afresh by the regular bench dealing with indirect tax-related petitions.
