Bullion trader RSBL files defamation suit against DGFT officer

Two months after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) imposed a penalty on Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Limited (RSBL), the city-based bullion trader has filed a defamation suit against the agency's officer and sought damages of Rs 500 crore.
Kavita Gupta, Additional Director General, Foreign Trade, Mumbai, had imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on RSBL and cancelled its nominated agency certificate (NAC), a document needed for direct imports of gold, for "violation" of RBI norms.
"RSBL has filed a defamation suit against Gupta in the Bombay High Court," the trading firm's spokesperson said.
According to DGFT, in FY14 RSBL imported 550 kg of gold and as per the RBI circular, this entire quantity should have been exported back. The norm had been introduced to curb the gold imports.

However, it shipped only 350 kg while remaining 200 kg were supplied to the domestic market, DGFT said.
The show-cause notice stated that RSBL's request for renewal of NAC for FY15 could not be considered as it had not complied with the conditions.
RSBL claimed that it had no prior information about the new norms of RBI.