Gulf Trade Disruptions: Rajasthan HC Issues Notice On MSME's Challenge To RELIEF Scheme Cut-Off Date

The Rajasthan High Court has recently issued notices to the government on a petition challenging the cut-off under Component III of the Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) Scheme, which restricts reimbursement support to shipments having Onboard Bills of Lading issued between February 14, 2026 and March 15, 2026.

A Division Bench of Justices Inderjeet Singh and Sandeep Taneja was hearing a petition filed by Agrim Overseas, an MSME exporter of perishable agricultural commodities, challenging the restriction as arbitrary and discriminatory.

The RELIEF Scheme is a financial support programme launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in March 2026 against the backdrop of maritime trade disruptions in West Asia and the Gulf Corridor.

It was introduced for protecting Indian exporters and MSMEs who faced extreme logistics costs, shipping delays, and war-risk insurance policies.

The petitioner submitted that it fulfills the eligibility conditions prescribed under Component III but has been excluded from its benefits solely because of the prescribed cut-off dates. It claimed that it had suffered the same extraordinary financial burden arising from the geopolitical disruptions.

The petitioner argued that the cut-off dates create an artificial and unreasonable classification between similarly situated MSME exporters who suffered identical exorbitant freight, detention, storage, and other conflict-related charges because of the same geopolitical circumstances.

It was further argued that there was no intelligible differentia or rational nexus between the classification and the object sought to be achieved by the Scheme.

The petitioner submitted that exporters whose consignments had already been dispatched before the cut-off date were equally exposed to the extraordinary charges arising from the geopolitical disruptions and formed part of the same class sought to be protected under the Scheme.

According to the petitioner, the restriction therefore results in unequal treatment among similarly situated exporters and deprives them of governmental support solely on the basis of the date of their Bills of Lading, despite the losses arising from the identical circumstances for which relief has been extended to other MSME exporters.

The petitioner has sought removal of the cut-off date and extension of the Component III benefits to eligible exporters who suffered extraordinary charges due to the same geopolitical disruptions.

The Court has issued notices to the government with four weeks to file a reply.