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2016 (11) TMI 814 - AT - CustomsForeign Collaboration agreement - royalty - Held that - the appellant are require to import from the foreign collaborator any item which appellant do not manufacture but foreign collaborator does. In respect of such goods the appellant are not liberty to buy from any other person. In view of that it is clear that the Order-in-Original suffers from lack of application of mind. The appeal is dismissed and the matter is remanded back to the Original Adjudicating authority for denovo examination.
Issues:
1. Whether the price was influenced by the collaboration agreement. 2. Whether the appellant and foreign collaborator were related. 3. Validity of the royalty payment in the collaboration agreement. 4. Decision on the appeal against the Commissioner(Appeals) order. Analysis: 1. The case involved an agreement between the appellant and a foreign company, which included a royalty payment. The Dy Commissioner initially found that the price was not influenced by the relationship. However, the Commissioner(Appeals) set aside the Order-in-Original, stating that the appellant and the foreign collaborator were related, leading to the remand of the case. 2. The appellant's counsel argued that the price was not influenced by the collaboration agreement, supported by pricing policy documents showing uniform pricing. The absence of a condition of sale in the agreement was highlighted to contest the addition of royalty to the value. On the other hand, the A.R. contended that the agreement mandated the appellant to import goods from the collaborator, making royalties a condition of sale. 3. The Tribunal reviewed the submissions and found that the Revenue's challenge led to the remand of the case by the Commissioner(Appeals). The appellant did not provide the collaboration agreement but referenced a relevant article mandating the purchase of certain goods exclusively from the foreign collaborator. This lack of freedom to buy from other sources indicated a flaw in the original decision, prompting the dismissal of the appeal and remand for further examination. 4. Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal and remanded the matter back to the Original Adjudicating authority for a fresh examination, emphasizing the lack of application of mind in the initial decision. The judgment was pronounced in court on 05/10/2016 by the members of the tribunal, Mr. Ramesh Nair, and Mr. Raju.
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