Poor drafting

Criminalising publishing of Customs data is a bad idea

It is often the case that the Union Budget throws up some nasty surprises in the fine print — usually clauses inserted by bureaucratic intervention and to which the political decision-makers’ attention may not have been drawn. In the recently presented Budget for 2022-23, one such issue has arisen. The Finance Bill intends to amend the Customs Act by introducing a Section that criminalises the “publishing” of “any information relating to the value or classification or quantity of goods entered for export from India, or import into India, or the details of the exporter or importer of such goods”. This