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2020 (1) TMI 326 - HC - CustomsProhibition on seeking assessment/reassessment of vessel - section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962 - whether the levy of the penalty under order, dated 06.07.2018, and the deposit of the same by the petitioner absolved the petitioner from discharging of all its liabilities in respect of the import of the vessel, on 28.05.2012, into Indian waters? - whether the petitioner is not required to file the manual bill of entry at any time later and is, therefore, entitled to withdraw the manual bill of entry having filed, on 10.07.2018? - HELD THAT:- The imposition of the penalty or a direction to the importer to pay charges is for contravention of the provisions of Sections 30 & 46 of the Act, which is prescribed, and not for absolving or discharging the importer from the liability to present a bill of entry in the prescribed form. Therefore, the contention of the petitioner that once penalty is imposed and deposited, the petitioner is not required to present manually the bill of entry and, therefore, the respondents ought to have considered the request of the petitioner for withdrawal of the manual bill of entry, which was presented for regularisation, needs no countenance. Whether the customs authorities are entitled to assess the impugned vessel to duty, on the premise that the bill of entry is filed in the year 2018, and also collect duties and tax prevalent in 2018 despite the fact that the vessel is admittedly imported into the Indian waters on 28.05.2012 more particularly when the customs duties applicable at that point of time viz., 28.05.2012 were ‘nil’ and when the integrated tax in terms of Section 3(7) of the Customs Tariff Act, was a levy introduced only w.e.f 01.07.2017? - HELD THAT:- Whether the bill of entry has been presented before the date of entry or after the date of entry, the bill of entry shall be deemed to have been presented on the date of actual entry inwards and the said date of entry shall be reckoned as the relevant date for application of the law prevalent as on that date. The law prevalent as on the date of the import of the vessel in the case on hand would only be applicable and that merely because the bill of entry was not filed at the inception in the year 2012 and the manual bill of entry was filed in the year 2018, that is, about six years after the actual import of goods, the duty and tax cannot be levied based on the law prevalent on the date of the filing of manual bill of entry more particularly as the import of the vessel in May, 2012, is not in dispute and as the vessel ran after getting necessary port clearances on number of occasions is also not in dispute - As admittedly the duties were ‘nil’ at the time of import in May, 2012, and the integrated tax in terms of Section 3(7) of Customs Tariff Act, 1975 was introduced w.e.f from 01.07.2017, we hold that the petitioner is entitled to the reliefs claimed in the writ petition. Petition allowed.
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