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2024 (4) TMI 1045 - CESTAT NEW DELHIRequest for conversion of free Shipping Bills into Drawback Shipping Bills rejected - long lapsed period between exports (1998) and the request for conversion (2007) - section 149 of Customs Act, 1962 - HELD THAT:- The free shipping bills in question pertain to 1998 and the request for conversion was made in 2007. Although the request was made in terms of section 149 of the Act, as per the interpretation of this section by Delhi High Court in M/S. TERRA FILMS PVT. LTD. VERSUS COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS [2011 (4) TMI 13 - DELHI HIGH COURT] and Madras High Court in THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (SEAPORT-EXPORT) VERSUS M/S. SUZLON ENERGY LIMITED [2013 (3) TMI 506 - MADRAS HIGH COURT], conversion of shipping bill from one scheme to another is not an amendment because it changes the entire nature of the document. Viewed in this legal position, the appellant’s request for conversion of free shipping bills to drawback shipping bills cannot be accepted for more than one reason - Firstly, it changes the entire nature of the Shipping Bills and it is not merely amendments to them - Secondly, any amendment can be permitted only on the basis of documents available at the time of export. The appellant’s prayer that the rates notified much later may be applied to it’s case retrospectively cannot be accepted because the notified All-Industry Rates are always prospective and also because these rates had not existed when the goods were exported - Thirdly, any amendment under section 149 is a matter of discretion of the officer and not a right of the exporter. Considering the long period that lapsed between exports (1998) and the request for conversion (2007), the Commissioner was correct in not allowing the conversion. The impugned order is upheld - Appeal dismissed.
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