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2018 (3) TMI 280 - HC - CustomsRevocation of Custom Duty Exemption Certificate (CDEC) - N/N. 64/88-Cus. dated 01.03.1988 - import of certain medical equipments exempt from customs duty - Held that: - Beyond a pale of doubt, the provisions relating to exemption from tax or duties have to be strictly construed and except upon satisfaction of the conditions for grant of such exemptions stricto sensu, the exemption from customs duty cannot be given by way of largesse to the beneficiaries, like Hospitals and Medical Institutions in the present case. It is all the more necessary that a strict, meticulous and complete compliance of conditions with the relevant and cogent evidence is proved beyond doubt before the concerned Authorities. A casual, cavalier or compliance by a paper formality is not enough to allow such Institutions to avail exemption under the said exemption notifications. The very purpose of such exemption will be defeated if the conditions are allowed to breached with impunity and then glossed over by a paper exercise in the name of submitting of a so-called reply furnished by the petitioner in the present case, Annexure-V dated 4.7.2014 , which does not inspire any confidence. The failure on the part of the petitioner to bring forth the said reply and the relevant data with evidence before the concerned Authority during the course of personal hearing on 5th and 6th of May 2014, speaks volumes against the petitioner-Institutions and shows the lackadaisical manner in which it sought to fortify its claim for exemption of customs duty in the aforesaid manner. The gross abuse of customs duty exemption by these Institutions and as many as 392 Institutions out of 396 given such exemption lost their CDECs, defeats the very purpose for which such exemption was given, for the avowed purpose of providing free medical aid to the poor sections of the Society. This Court does not find any illegality, perversity or arbitrariness in the impugned order passed by the respondent-Authority which could be quashed on the anvil of Article 14 of the Constitution of India - petition being devoid of merits, is dismissed.
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