Home Case Index All Cases Customs Customs + AT Customs - 2022 (9) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2022 (9) TMI 67 - AT - CustomsRefund claim - short landing of the goods - duty assessed in the Bill of Entry through self-assessment by the appellant is in excess or not - can a refund be claimed or does the Bill of Entry has to be re-assessed first before refund can be sanctioned - change in the quantity of the goods in the Bill of Entry amount to re-assessment or not - whether documents relied upon by the appellant establish that lesser quantity of goods were imported than the quantity mentioned in the Bill of Lading? HELD THAT:- Section 23(1) deals with such cases where the goods which are imported have been lost or destroyed at any time before their clearance for home consumption. No case has been made out by the appellant that the goods have actually been imported as per the Bill of Lading and thereafter they have been destroyed at any time prior to their clearance for home consumption. Therefore, section 23(1) has no application in this case. This is not a case for remission of duty but is a case of application for refund on the ground that duty was paid in excess reckoning the total quantity of goods as mentioned in the Bill of Lading while lesser quantity was actually imported/landed by the vessel. The Bill of Entry, therefore, needs to be re-assessed. Cases of remission of duty under section 23(1), are those where the goods would have been destroyed or lost (other than through pilferage) before their clearance for home consumption. Before the clearance for home consumption, the assessment of the goods under section 17 is still open and the duty can be assessed or re-assessed accordingly. The assessment once completed attains finality and can only be appealed against before the Commissioner (Appeals) or reopened through a notice under section 28. The documents relied upon by the appellant are inconclusive. In respect of MV Vinayak, for instance, the joint draught survey report is signed by the Master of the Vessel and the representatives of the two receivers- the appellant represented by Sravan Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. KPR Fertilisers Ltd. represented by M/s. Coromandel Shipping Agency (P) Ltd. - there is no agreement between the person who was to hand over the goods viz., the master of the vessel and the persons who were to receive them viz., the appellant that there was shortage. The Master says that he delivered the entire quantity and the appellant or his agents or the surveyors appointed by it say that the sulphur was short landed - Similarly, in the case of MV Nirman PRITI, it is indicated at the top that of the 13,200 MT BL quantity of Sulphur, only 13011.771 MT was discharged. The Master of the Vessel’s remarks were that the entire quantity was discharged. So, it is a case of word of one versus the word of another. The reports are inconclusive. Therefore, even for this reason, the appellant is not entitled to a refund. The impugned order is correct and calls for no interference - appeal dismissed.
|