Home Case Index All Cases Customs Customs + AT Customs - 2023 (6) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2023 (6) TMI 1015 - AT - CustomsConfiscation of imported goods - rough diamonds - composition of lots/parcels and the reasoning for recourse to the ‘residual method’ of valuation after rejecting the declared value under rule 12 of Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 - HELD THAT:- The intention of circular no. 53/2003- Cus dated 23rd June 2003 of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in aligning customs procedure to conform to the global crusade against ‘conflict diamonds’ but such a peremptory direction which deprives an adjudicating authority of inherent latitude in exercising powers conferred statutorily is certainly poor, even if wellintentioned, execution of such intent. After all, statutory exercise of power, in adjudication process, is also an acknowledged check on policy formulation that transcends legislative intent which should have been reasonably overcome, in overriding circumstances for conformity with the comity of nations, only by amendments in statute - A circular of an attached office of the Central Government to its subordinate formations is not to be presumed as articulation even of policy intent let alone legislative intent when it circumscribes statutory conferment. In the light of failure to contest the easing of restrictions on re-export, the argument of Learned Authorized Representative for absolute confiscation is unacceptable. It is quite possible that purposeful misdeclaration of value by importers of articles, such as ‘rough diamonds’, may warrant recourse to rule 9 of Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 but the peculiarities of a trade upon which customs officials may be entirely dependent for expertise and whose activities may, even validly, be veiled under layers of secrecy may not be found by assessing officers to be of concern but the law cannot be ignored. That supervisory level of customs officialdom may have found it necessary to bypass impediments to proper resort to rule 9 of Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 does not make up for that want of credibility - Absent that, substituted value will fail the test of law, as it does in the present dispute, and will have to be held as untenable even at the cost of declaring such instructions, if any, as not implementable. It is not the case of the lower authorities that any prohibition, ‘under Customs Act, 1962 or any other law for the time being in force’, stood in the way of clearance for home consumption upon assessment of bill of entry; a subsequent proceeding under Customs Act, 1962 cannot rest upon a prohibition that, at the time of clearance, was not in existence for resort to section 124 of Customs Act, 1962 proposing confiscation of goods under section 111 of Customs Act, 1962 - To postulate that empowerment to confiscate, under section 111(m) of Customs Act, 1962, on the ground that misdeclaration of value empowers resort to valuation provisions of the statute, intended for specific purpose, is to put the cart before the horse and effect before cause. The orders of the lower authorities leave no room for doubt that there is no difference in rate of ‘nil’ duty, corresponding to either of the tariff items – declared or substituted, in dispute, with the implication that the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is not germane to the impugned goods - It is also not the case of the lower authorities that any other law, requiring declaration of ‘value’ in bill of entry for any purpose other than assessment to duty, has been breached insofar as the present dispute in concerned. In such circumstances, section 14 of Customs Act, 1962, or any Rules framed thereunder, is not of relevance to the impugned goods. Consequently, the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 cannot be brought to bear on the impugned goods. The importer may, if it chooses to, exercise right to re-export without any restraint on the goods subject to compliance with section 50 of Customs Act, 1962. Upon seeking of re-export, the goods shall be released to them within a period of one month. The appeal of Revenue, devoid of merit and substance, is dismissed.
|