TMI Blog1982 (9) TMI 64X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, when imported into India, from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon. On 28th February 1979 the import general manifest of the vessel was registered, Bombay. On that day the Petitioners' clearing agents filed with the Customs authorities 6 bills of entry relating to the said goods. The Bombay port trust authorities had on 23rd February 1979 informed the vessel's shipping agents that, in order to secure a berth for the purposes of discharge of cargo, it might have to wait in stream for a period of 65 days from the date of its registration at Bombay. Having regard to this, the vessel left Indian territorial waters and sailed to Karachi for the purposes of unloading cargo there. On and f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as no question of payment of any duty even if the exemption was withdrawn when the bills of entry were filed or the vessel was granted entry inward. Mr. Sen submitted that the scheme of the Customs Act showed that once a vessel containing goods entered Indian territorial waters the goods became liable to payment of duty under Section 12, subject only to the exceptions contained inter alia in Sections 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 53, 54, 57, 60 and 68. Accordingly, in Mr. Sen's submission, the fact that the vessel left Indian territorial waters after 27th February 1979 and re-entered them on 6th March 1979 was irrelevant. 3. It was submitted on behalf of respondents that the decisions in the Sylvania and Synthetics cases were not good law in vi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods were imported. It is well to clarify that in terms of the quantum of duty there is no difference between the two dates, 6th March 1979 and 7th March 1979. 6. Under the provisions of Section 2(23) of the Customs Act, import means bringing into India from a place outside India. Under Section 2(25), imported goods mean any goods brought into India from a place outside India but do not include goods which have been cleared for home consumption. Under Section 2(27) India includes the territorial waters of India. Import, therefore, means bringing into India territorial waters from without. Imported goods mean any goods brought into Indian territorial waters from without. Imported goods ceased to be such when they have been cleared for ho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e not chargeable to duty under the Customs Act when brought back into Indian territorial waters on 6th March 1979. 10. In my view it does not. The proper construction to place upon the course of events that took place between 27th February 1979 and 6th March 1979 is that the goods were imported into Indian on 27th February 1979. They were thereafter exported, within the meaning of Section 2(18) of the Customs Act, in that they were taken out of Indian territorial waters and to Karachi, they then lost their character of imported goods. They were imported again into India on 6th March 1979 and acquired the character of imported goods and became liable to customs duty. The entry into Indian territorial waters on 6th March 1979 resulted in th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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