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2021 (6) TMI 643 - HC - CustomsRejection of claim for Preferential Duty - Areca nuts - certificate of origin (COO) - benefit of N/N. 26 of 2000 - remission of duty assessed under section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962 - HELD THAT:- In the present case, the claim for preferential duty has been rejected unilaterally and without assigning any reasons whatsoever by the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, an authority not competent to have rejected the claim as per the proviso to Section 28-DA(4). Though the consignment has been imported in February 2021, there has been no initiation of enquiry by the proper officer under sub-Section (3) for further enquiry into the COO or any other aspect of the matter that he deems relevant. The impugned order rejecting the claim for exemption has come to be passed by the 2nd respondent, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, who is not the competent authority to have rejected the claim of exemption, since such rejection could only have been by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner and that too, for reasons to be recorded. This is a flaw that goes to the root of the matter, the procedure adopted in the impugned proceedings. The timeline for response by the Verification Authority is set out in regulation 63b, which is sixty days from date of request. In the present case, this request has not been initiated and the Department has been sitting pretty on the consignment despite requests for release, the petitioner repeatedly drawing attention to the fact that the consignment comprises perishable goods - The certificate of origin in this case as well as the clarification obtained by the petitioner have been obtained from the Assistant Director acting for the Director General of Commerce in the Department of Commerce, Colombo. The designated Authority under the IFSTA is the Director General of Commerce, Department of Commerce, also the authority which has issued the COO and subsequent clarification. The objection of the respondents in regard to the COO as well as their contention that the clarification dated 19.03.2021 ought to have been received ‘through proper channel’ is thus, hypertechnical, to say the least. The petitioner has satisfied the requirement of production of a valid COO in this case - petition allowed.
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