Noida software exporter faces FEMA adjudication over old export advances
The Enforcement Directorate's Lucknow office issued a 2020 show-cause notice to a Noida-based software exporter over unutilised export advances of about Rs 1.97 crore from 2003-05. The Allahabad High Court recorded that the complaint disclosed a prima facie FEMA contravention and dismissed the company's writ challenge. Adjudication for penalty under the Foreign Exchange Management Act was allowed to proceed.
This page records what the cited court, tribunal and government records say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →The writ was dismissed on 05.02.2021 and the FEMA adjudication on the export-advance complaint was left to proceed.
What happened
The High Court recorded that the company was a [name withheld] company with its registered office at Noida engaged in software development and export of computer and business support services.
The High Court recorded that the Enforcement Directorate alleged that 16 export advances totalling Rs 1,96,98,815.67 received through the authorised dealer during 2003-04 and 2004-05 remained unutilised beyond the stipulated period without documents to substantiate actual export of goods/services/software.
The High Court recorded that a complaint under Section 16(3) of FEMA was filed on 30.09.2020 alleging contravention of Section 7(3) of FEMA read with Regulations 10 and 16, and a show-cause notice asked why adjudication and penalty under Section 13 should not follow.
The High Court held that the complaint disclosed the necessary ingredients warranting adjudicatory proceedings and that delay/limitation was a question of fact for adjudication, and dismissed the writ petition without prejudice to defences in adjudication.
What the record says
“the complaint discloses all the necessary ingredients with regard to contravention of the provisions of FEMA warranting adjudicatory proceedings.”
Writ-C No. 494 of 2021, Allahabad High Court, para 19 — read the full text
A peaceful economic act
The case punishes paperwork around cross-border receipts for lawful software exports, with no victim, violence, fraud, or coercion alleged; holding foreign advances and settling them late is a peaceful movement of capital.
What we could not confirm
No more recent clean FEMA/hawala-only case in Uttar Pradesh was found; 2024-2026 hawala mentions (cyber-fraud, forged-identity/infiltration funding) and 2024 DRI cash-plus-gold cases were rejected as proceeds of or linked to other alleged crimes. Incident date is left null because non-utilisation was a continuing paperwork default from 2003-05, flagged via bank reports in 2017-2020.