9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (11) TMI 1214X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for not being in compliance with the conditions in notification no. 25/99-Cus dated 28th February 1999 (at serial no. 115). 2. The said notification allows 'parts of CD/VCD/DVD mechanisms, viz., 'optical pickup assembly and parts thereof, DC Micro motors, Loader parts of plastic (parts of CD loader), cable connector, springs, screws, washer' to be imported at concessional rate of duty for use in manufacture of finished goods. This is akin to similar benefit available to manufacturers of intermediate goods cleared with payment of duty to manufacturers of finished goods. Consequently, the condition of concessional rate of duty is subject to compliance with the procedure set out in Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner of Customs v. Overseas Business Corporation [TIOL-2432-CESTAT-DEL]. It is also contended that all the requirements in the said Rules have been observed in entirety. 4. Relying upon the decision of the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Commissioner of Customs (Import), Mumbai v. Dilip Kumar & Company [2018 (361) ELT 577 (SC)], Learned Authorised Representative argued that exemption notifications are to be construed rigidly and that any ambiguity therein cannot be widened to deprive Revenue of the dues authorised to be collected by the sovereign legislature. It was also pointed out that, while the burden of liability to tax vests in the tax administration, it is for the assessee to establish its claim for any exemption ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sumes that the goods have been procured at concessional rate of duty in terms of Customs (Import of Goods Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996 read with notification no. 25/1999-Cus dated 28 February 1999. There can be no more patent irregularity of assumption that this. A notification for exemption from duties of customs is issued under the authority of section 25 of Customs Act, 1962 and it is such a notification that grants the privilege of concession disputed in the present proceedings. The cited Rules does not afford the authority to confer such privilege. Perhaps, as suggested by Learned Counsel, the misappropriation of jurisdiction may be a consequence of this erroneous presumption of primacy of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it was opined that expansion of the permissible imports did not privilege the importer to use the goods for anything other than manufacture of 'CD Deck mechanism.' Furthermore, the adjudicating authority holds that though the notification is not specific on the subheadings, the latitude of coverage by the chapter heading cannot be extended to the appellant herein without compromising on the requirement for strict interpretation of the description itself. The expert opinion of the Department of Electronics on the use of 'loader assembly' as an alternative description of 'CD Deck mechanism' in common parlance has been discarded by the adjudicating authority with a sweeping assertion of unacceptability of such expertise in the absence of samp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e adjudicating authority has proceeded with his own line of thinking on the scope of the exemption notification. There is no doubt that an exemption notification will need to be construed strictly but an exemption notification that permits import of parts which, according to the adjudicating authority, cannot find use in the intended finished goods is also an indictment of the Central Government for indulging in superfluity. We do not say so but can infer no other conclusion from the casual dismissal of the claim of the appellant that 'CD Deck mechanism' is utilised in 'DVD players' and that the amendment to the description of eligible goods include such hardware advancements. This is not an attempt to read down, or dilute, the objective of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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