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TMI Blog2024 (7) TMI 426X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 10th May 2021. The quantity of 12,127.577 Mts was covered by three Invoices all dated 26th April 2021. Petitioner had filed Warehouse Bill of Entry dated 7th May 2021 for the entire quantity of 12,127.577 Mts and subsequently filed various Ex-Bond Bills of Entry all dated 13th May 2021 under the provisions of Section 68 of the Customs Act, 1962 (the Act) seeking clearance of the said goods for home consumption. 3. The dispute in the petition is restricted to 3465.024 Mts out of the total quantity of 12,127.577 Mts. Out of this 3465.024 Mts, 1485.010 Mts pertained to contract dated 5th April 2021 which was for 2475.016 Mts and 1980.014 Mts pertained to contract dated 16th April 2021 which was for 2227.515 Mts. 4. Petitioner had filed two Ex-Bond Bills of Entry being Bill of Entry Nos. 3939144 and 3938613 both dated 13th May 2021 for 1485.010 Mts under Section 68 of the Act, seeking clearance of the same for home consumption. Petitioner also filed another two Ex-Bond Bills of Entry viz. Bill of Entry Nos. 3939169 and 3938622 both dated 13th May 2021 for the aforesaid quantity of 1980.014 Mts under Section 68 of the Act seeking clearance for home consumption. 5 It is petitioner's c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Rs. 3,66,10,119/- in regard to Ex-Bond Bill of Entry No. 3938622 dated 13th May 2021, which was paid vide receipt dated 7th June 2021. 8. On 13th May 2021 at 21:24:11 hours Notification No. 47/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 13th May 2021 was e-Gazetted, having been digitally signed on 13th May 2021 at 21:24:11 hours, whereby tariff value of the said goods was increased from USD 1163 PMT to USD 1219 PMT. In view of the said Notification, the department sought to re-assess the said four Ex-Bond Bills of Entry while demanding duty on the enhanced tariff value of USD 1219 PMT. Petitioner pointed out to the department that requirements of Section 15 of the Act namely, the filing an assessment of the said four Ex-Bond Bills of Entry were fulfilled before the said Notification was e-Gazetted and since conditions of Section 15 of the Act stood determined prior to e-Gazette of Notification, the enhanced tariff value cannot be made applicable to the Ex-Bond Bills of Entry. It is petitioner's case that respondents did not pay any heed to the aforesaid submissions of petitioner and the department re-assessed the said four Ex-Bond Bills of Entry while demanding duty on enhanced tariff value @ USD 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on higher tariff value for clearance of the subject goods, as stated above; (d) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction while directing the Respondents, its officials, agents, servants etc. to pay and place at the disposal of the Petitioner an amount of Rs. 61,69,890/- paid by the Petitioner with interest @12% p.a. from the date of deposit till the date of payment as consequence of grant of aforesaid prayers by this Hon'ble Court;" 13. Mr. Rawal submitted that the issue in the petition as to when the said Notification is stated to have come into force and what is the rate payable, has been considered in a similar matter by the Apex Court in Union of India & Ors. Vs. M/s G.S. Chatha Rice Mills & Anr. 2020 SCC Online SC 770. Mr. Rawal submitted that the Apex Court in Chatha Rice Mills (Supra) has held that the rate in force would be the rate that was in force on the date and time of presentation and in this case since self-assessed bills of entry were already presented before the enhanced rate came into force, the rate payable would be USD 1163 PMT. Mr. Rawal submitted that the said Notification would apply only to bills of entry presented ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d paperless Processing, Regulations, 2018 (the said Regulations), the rate and value in force stands crystalised under Section 15 (1) (b) of the Act. In the present case, the customs authorities have sought to exercise power of reassessment on the grounds of the subsequent Notification enhancing the rate of duty. The fact is that self-assessment was carried out on the basis of the rate of duty which prevailed at the time of presentation of the bill of entry. It is rather strange that in the affidavit in reply the stand taken is that Section 15 does not make any reference to time and hence, irrespective of the point of time when the Notification has been published in the e-gazette, the rate of the duty leviable on imported goods cleared is the rate prevailing on the date of presentation of bills of entry. This is notwithstanding the fact that this very same argument has been rejected by the Apex Court in M/s G. S. Chatha Rice Mills (Supra). 15. The relevant paragraphs of M/s G. S. Chatha Rice Mills (Supra) are reproduced hereinbelow: "41 The Regulations of 2018 have made provisions for submission of a declaration and generation of the bill of entry in an electronic form on the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edule to the Customs Tariff Act covering all goods originating in or exported from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, was not in force at the time when the self-assessment was carried out. 43 Under Section 15 (1) (a) the rate of duty is the rate in force on the date of the presentation of a bill of entry where the goods are entered for home consumption under Section 46. The submission of the learned ASG is that the expression "on the date" is adopted by the legislature in clauses (a) and (b) and in the proviso to Section 15 (1). He urged that Section 15 (1) has no reference to time but only to the date of the presentation of the bill of entry and once a notification was issued on 16 February 2019 enhancing the rate of duty, that is the duty 'in force' on the date of presentation. Section 15 (1) (a) uses two expressions (i) the rate and valuation "in force"; and (ii) "on the date" of the presentation of the bill of entry for home consumption under Section 46. The provisions of Section 15 (1) (a) have to be read in conjunction with the provisions of Section 46 which are referred to in the former provision. Section 46 has incorporated a regime which encompasses the submission of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the provisions of Section 17 and Section 46, the impact of ICT-based governance has been recognized by the legislature in providing for the presentation of bills of entry in the electronic form on the customs automated EDI system. Precision, transparency and seamless administration are key features of a system which adopts technology in pursuit of efficiency. As we will explore in greater detail later in this judgment, technology has enabled both administrators and citizens to know precisely when an electronic record is uploaded. The considerations which Parliament had in its view in providing for crucial amendments to the statutory scheme by moving from manual to electronic forms of governance in the assessment of duties must not be ignored. Tax administration must leave behind the culture of an age in which the assessment of duty was wrought with delays, discretion, doubt and sometimes, the dubious. The interpretation of the court must aid in establishing a system which ensures certainty for citizens, ease of application and efficiency of administration. 66. It is with these principles of interpretation in mind that we must evaluate the submission which was urged by Mr. Natara ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lf-assessment. In the context of these specific provisions, it would do violence to the overall scheme of the statute to interpret the language of Section 15 (1) (a) in the manner in which it is sought to be interpreted by the ASG. The submission of the ASG, simply put, is that because notification 5/2019 was issued on 16 February 2019, the court must regardless of the time at which it was uploaded on the e-Gazette treat it as being in existence with effect from midnight or 0000 hours on 16 February 2019. The consequence of this interpretation would be to do violence to the language of Section 8 A(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, and to disregard the meaning, intent and purpose underlying the adoption of provisions in the Customs Act in regard to the electronic filing of the bill of entry and the completion of self-assessment." Admittedly, in this case four Ex-Bond Bills of Entry have been presented before the said Notification came into force. One bill of entry was self-assessed on 13th May 2021 at 20:17:07 hours, the second was self-assessed at 20:56:11 hours, the third was self-assessed at 20:15:09 hours and the fourth was self-assessed at 20:59:08 hours, whereas, the Notificatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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