9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (3) TMI 1416X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 'iron and steel shafts' claiming the benefit of country of origin (SAFTA) as per Notification No. 99/2011-Customs dated 09.11.2011. The Bills of Entry were re-assessed and the appellant cleared the goods from the Customs authorities on payment of re-assessed duty, along with interest and penalty. 3. The appellant contended that till date, no speaking order of assessment had been received by them under Section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962 and therefore, filed appeals before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals). 4. The Ld. Commissioner (Appeals), in the impugned order dated 21.03.2023, has observed as under: - "8. I find that the appellant has relinquished the claim for COO benefits for all nine Bills of Entry, therefore, there was no necessi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... On the other hand, the Ld. Authorised Representative of the Revenue submitted that as the appellant had already relinquished their right of claiming the benefit of country of origin certificate as per the said Notification, therefore, the appeals are not maintainable. 7. Heard the parties. 8. It is a case of importation of goods, and as to how assessment of duty is to be done has been laid down under Section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962. For better appreciation of the law, Section 17 of the Act is reproduced hereinbelow: - "SECTION 17. Assessment of duty. - (1) An importer entering any imported goods under section 46, or an exporter entering any export goods under section 50, shall, save as otherwise provided in section 85, self-assess t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from the date of re-assessment of the bill of entry or the shipping bill, as the case may be. [(6) * * * ] Explanation. - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that in cases where an importer has entered any imported goods under section 46 or an exporter has entered any export goods under section 50 before the date on which the Finance Bill, 2011 receives the assent of the President, such imported goods or export goods shall continue to be governed by the provisions of section 17 as it stood immediately before the date on which such assent is received." 8.1. As per the above said provisions, an importer is required to file their Bill of Entry and self-assess the duty leviable on the goods imported, under Section 17(1) of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e part of the proper officer to disclose or communicate the reasons on the basis of which a reasonable doubt came to be raised with respect to declared value. We were informed that the formation of reasonable doubt was based on the contemporaneous import data with which the importer was confronted. However, and before us, it was conceded that the contemporaneous data which is spoken of was merely the data as appearing on the NIDB portal. We had an occasion to notice the host of precedents which had consistently held that the NIDB data could not on a standalone basis constitute a valid ground to doubt the declared value. Suffice it to note that the entire action ultimately rested on the letters submitted by the appellants seeking expeditious ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e host of past precedents rendered on this aspect have come to be overlooked and ignored by the CESTAT which has merely proceeded to toe the line taken in the Advanced Scan Support and Vikas Spinners. We have already taken note of the distinguishing features which inform the aforementioned two decisions. 98. Therefore, the proper officer could not be said to have been relieved of its obligation to pass a speaking order in terms of Section 17(5). The process of rejecting the declared value and reassessing the transaction value is statutorily required to be preceded by the proper officer having drawn an opinion of why the declared value was not liable to be accepted before consequently proceeding to reassess the value. While the said reasse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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