9911796707
TMI Blog2000 (9) TMI 450X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . 58,65,851/- on M/s. PAL and also imposed a penalty of Rs. 50,000/- on Shri Deepak Jain, General Manager of Appellant No. 1, holding that all the goods were CKD/SKD kits for particular end products and should be liable to duty as applicable to the corresponding end products, viz., hand mixer, citrus juicer etc., that exemption under Notification No. 50/95 was not available; that Shri Deepak Jain was the main person dealing with imports and had divided CKD/SKD kits to be declared as components/parts and as such had misdeclared the goods. 3. Shri Vivek Kohli, ld. Advocate, mentioned that the Appellants are not contesting confirmation of demand amounting to Rs. 15,653. He submits that the products manufactured by M/s. PAL are an aggregate of various items, components and parts; that some items are purchased by them from within the country while others are imported from outside from different suppliers; that usually as and when a complete container load was imported, the same was imported through Delhi and in case of part container, it was more convenient to find part container space destined for Madras Port; that they had classified each and every item, component and parts on i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 85.01, Electrical Circuits of headings 85.35 and 85.36 as the complete appliances. The ld. Advocate, further submitted that to successfully invoke Rule 2(a) of the Interpretative Rules, it is absolutely imperative that it is firstly established that the article is in an incomplete or unfinished state and has, as presented, acquired the essential characterstics of the complete or finished article; that this has not been established in the present matter. He also mentioned that the Department, instead of assessing the items in the form they are presented, is seeking to club the entire imports under various Bills of Entry and to take the entire quantity imported by them as a single import and assess the same to duty as final products; that law does not permit such a course. Reliance was placed on the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of UOI v. Tarachand Gupta & Bros., 1983 (13) E.L.T. 1456 (S.C.). The ld. Counsel also submitted that Department has also failed to establish that the goods in question have attained the essential characteristics of the finished final products. He also relied upon the decision in Vareli Weaves Pvt. Ltd. v. UOI, 1996 (83) E.L.T. 255 (S.C.) wherein i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the case of Collector of Customs v. Maruti Udyog Ltd. - 1996 (16) RLT 646 (T); and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. v. Collector of Customs, Madras, 1987 (28) E.L.T. 545 (T). The ld. DR also relied upon the decision in the case of CCE v. Parle Exports (P) Ltd. - 1988 (38) E.L.T. 741 (S.C.) wherein it was held that the notification issued under Central Excise Rules should be read along with the Act. When a Notification is issued in accordance with the powers conferred by the statute, it has statutory force and validity and, therefore, the Exemption under Notification is as if it were contained in the Act itself. He also submitted that once the goods are held to be finished goods, benefit of notification will not be available to the goods as their classification as finished goods does not find place in Notification. Reliance was placed on the decision in the case of Hindustan Teleprinters Ltd. v. Collector of Customs, 1986 (24) E.L.T. 111 (T) wherein it was held that when the licence was for Components of electric typewriter SKD condition, a complete built up electric typewriter is not covered by the licence. 7. In reply the ld. Advocate relied upon the decision in the case of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... article. When goods are so presented; it is usually for reasons such as requirements or convenience of packing, handling or transport. The Notes further provides that the components shall not be subjected to any further working operation for completion into the finished state. In the present matter, the components have not been presented in unassembled condition as the imports have been made at different time. When the impugned components were imported, they cannot be termed as having the essential character of the complete or finished article and as such Rule 2(a) of the Interpretative Rules is not attracted. It has not been disputed by the Revenue that the imports were made at different points of time in different vessels or aircrafts. The import of components has been held to be within the Import-Export Policy in the impugned Order. The Commissioner has given his clear finding that; "There is no violation of ITC provisions in respect of spares/components/parts of the electrical appliances.... imported by M/s. PAL and these are not liable for confiscation for violation of ITC provisions". Heavy reliance has been placed by the Revenue on the decision in the case of CC, Bombay v. M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 11. The Appellants have also contended that even if Rule 2(a) of the Interpretative Rule is attracted, treating the goods as complete appliance, the exemption under the Notification cannot be denied to them as Rule 2(a) cannot be applied to Notification. In support of his contention he has relied upon the decision in the case of Wipro G.E. Medical Systems Ltd. v. CCE, Bangalore, 1996 (106) E.L.T. 169 (T). We observe that even in Maruti Udyog case, the Tribunal extended the benefit of Notification to the goods imported holding that what was imported was components and parts and the Notifications exempted components and parts. The ld. Commissioner has differed from this decision of the Tribunal, as according to him, the interpretation placed by the CEGAT on the notification has nullified the effect of other statutory provisions which is not permissible under the law. He had relied upon some decisions to the effect that exemption notification has to be construed strictly; the words used in the provision, imposing taxes or granting exemption should be understood in ordinary parlance; the notification must be read as a whole in the context of other relevant provisions and notifica ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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