TMI Blog2017 (12) TMI 1387X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... - Dr. Satish Chandra, President And Mr. V. Padmanabhan, Member (Technical) For the Appellant : Sh. R.K. Manjhi, DR For the Respondents : Sh Tushar Jarwal Rahul Satija, Adv ORDER Per: ( Dr. ) Satish Chandra All these appeals are filed by the Revenue against the Order-in-Original No. 07/2017/VJ/Pr. Commissioner dated 13.07.2017 passed by the (Pr.) Commissioner of Customs (Import), New Delhi. 2. The brief facts of the case are that, the assessee-Respondents have imported seven aircrafts which were sent to Colombo, Sri Lanka and thereafter returned. In these appeals, the dispute is regarding three aircrafts. The Department has demanded the Customs duty and imposed penalties. But the adjudicating authority dropp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Customs Preventive vide Order-in-Original dated 30.09.2010 in which aircrafts worth ₹ 271.01 Crores were confiscated and redemption fine in lieu of confiscation of ₹ 40 Crores was imposed. Duty amount of ₹ 56.51 Crores was confirmed and penalty of ₹ 15 Crores was imposed on the importer. The appellant appealed against the said Order-in-Original in CESTAT and the CESTAT granted them stay in Feb 2012 and waived pre-deposit till the disposal of the appeal. Since then, the said matter was pending before CESTAT, Delhi. It is also undisputed that subject aircrafts were, at the time of initial import, cleared for home consumption by filing bill of entry under Section 46 of the Customs Act. Subsequently, the aircrafts left ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssed to duty cleared, they are no longer remain imported goods by virtue of the definition of imported goods in Section 2(25) which states that imported goods means goods brought into India from a place outside but does not include goods which have been cleared for home consumption. Therefore once any vessel e.g. the rig in the present case, is brought into India and assessed to duty and cleared for home consumption it would cease to be imported goods. Subsequently, if it acquires the characteristic of foreign going vessel, is not liable for payment of customs duty for the movements in and out of the country. In this regard, the definition of foreign going vessel is relevant. The definition states that foreign going vessel includes inter ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... owners of the rig. The other reasons on which duty liability has been fastened on Noble for the movement of rig in December 1997 and when it came back from repairs in 1999 is not called for have already been dealt with above. (v) There is another reason to justify the practice which has existed for non-levy of duty on every inward movement of foreign going vessel. This is for the reason that if import duty was payable on every inward movement of a vessel, it would have to be then refunded back by way of Drawback payments, whenever the vessel went to a non-designated location/out of India. Therefore, if a vessel carrying cargo arriving into Bombay Port say on May 1, 2006, would be liable to pay duty on the full value of that ship a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat the department is contesting these two orders in the higher judicial fora. 10. Therefore, following the judgment of this Tribunal in the case of Noble Asset Company Limited (supra) and considering the fact that the Department itself has dropped similar proceedings in relation to five other aircrafts, which were imported initially and subsequently gone out of India under sale and purchase agreements and came back under the lease agreement, we hold that the order of ld. Commissioner is not sustainable and the same is set aside. 5. By following our earlier decision (supra), we find no reason to interfere with the impugned order and the same is hereby sustained along with the reasons mentioned therein. 6. In the result, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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