Home Case Index All Cases Customs Customs + HC Customs - 2017 (10) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2017 (10) TMI 673 - HC - CustomsAdditional Duty of Customs - interpretation of statute - subsection (1) of section 3 of the CTA Act, 1975 - transformer oil - case of petitioner is that the transformer oil has been exempted under the N/N. 5/84 C.E. dated 1st March 1984 and, therefore, the additional duty under subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975 is not payable - Held that: - The Apex Court had an occasion to interpret subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975 in the case of Khandelwal Metal & Engineering Works v. Union of India [1985 (6) TMI 178 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA], where the Apex Court has held that subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975 does not require that the imported article should be such which is capable of being produced or manufactured in India. The assumption has to be that the article imported into India can be manufactured in India and upon that basis, the duty has to be determined under subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975. If like article is not produced or manufactured in India, the duty levied within the meaning of subsection (1) of section 3 would mean the duty which would be leviable on the class or description of the articles to which the imported article belongs. The levy under subsection (1) of section 3 is permissible, provided the imported article is liable to excise duty if manufactured in India. If goods of class A are imported and if excise duty is not payable on the goods manufactured in India of that class, there is no question of levy of additional duty under subsection (1) of section 3 - it is not disputed that exemption notification dated 1st March 1984 will apply to the transformer oil imported by the first petitioner. The provision of section 3 is basically enacted to safeguard the interests of the manufactures in India. In fact, the provision for levy of additional duty on the imported articles is to counterbalance the excise duty leviable on like articles made indigenously. As the additional duty is to counterbalance and to safeguard the interests of the manufactures in India, if the manufactures in India are not liable to pay duty on the goods of the like category, then on import of such goods the additional duty under subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975 cannot be levied for the reason that so far as Indian manufactures are concerned, the goods are exempted. Petition allowed - decided in favor of petitioner.
|