Safeguard Duty In India Near

• The Supreme Court of India has issued an interim order that allows the government to go ahead with the planned implementation of safeguard duty against imported solar cells from Malaysia and China, according to Mercom India Research,
• The duty will be levied with effect from July 30, 2018 when it was notified in the official gazette
• The Supreme Court will continue to deliberate the case with its next hearing scheduled for October 2018

The Supreme Court (SC) of India has issued an interim order that allows the government to go ahead with its planned 25% safeguard duty implementation against imported solar cells from China and Malaysia. Mercom India Research says the duty will be levied from July 30, 2018. With this order, it looks like there are no obstacles to implementing the safeguard duty.

A 25% safeguard duty was announced by the government and notified in the official gazette on July 30, 2018. ACME Solar, Hero Future Energies and Vikram Solar approached the Orissa High Court against the order after which the latter directed Ministry of Finance to withdraw the notification (see Court Pauses India's Safeguard Duty). A hearing was scheduled by the Orissa High Court for September 19, 2018, but before that, the highest court of law in the country has given a green signal to its implementation.

According to Mercom, the Ministry of Finance had approached the Supreme Court against the order of the Orissa High Court that led to the former pass the interim order allowing the government to impose safeguard duty. The case will continue to be deliberated by the apex body, with next hearing scheduled for October 2018.

To protest against the duty, Malaysia has already dragged India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (see Malaysia Seeks WTO Intervention In India).