TMI Blog1996 (8) TMI 109X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thereon under Section 68 was ordered. Section 15(1)(b) has, therefore, no application. The consequence of non-removal of warehoused goods within the permitted period or the permitted extension is, by virtue of the terms of Section 72, certain. The date on which it comes to end is the date relevant for determining the rate of duty. When the duty is, in fact, demanded is not relevant. The alternative submission on behalf of the appellants must, therefore, also be rejected. Appeal dismissed. - 4459 of 1989 - - - Dated:- 23-8-1996 - S.P. Bharucha and S.C. Sen, JJ. [Judgment per : Bharucha, J.]. — This is an appeal against an order of the Customs, Excise Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal. It raises a question of some importance relating to the rate at which Customs duty is to be levied on goods that remain in a bonded warehouse beyond the permitted period. 2.The appellants imported and, on 25th May, 1984, filed a bill of entry for 4832 bales of rayon grade wood pulp for warehousing. The 4832 bales were warehoused on 16th June, 1984, in a private bonded warehouse of the appellants. Of these, 4000 were cleared and we are concerned only with the remaining 832 bales (now re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d from the bonded warehouse. 3.On 25th May, 1984, when the bill of entry for warehousing the said bales was filed, they were liable to Customs duty. By virtue of an exemption notification dated 17th March, 1985, pulp derived from vegetable fibre was exempted from the payment of Customs and additional duties. 4.The contention of the appellants before the authorities below and the Tribunal was that the rate of Customs duty in force on the date of removal of the said bales from the bonded warehouse was the applicable rate, having regard to the provisions of Section 15(1)(b), and, by virtue of the exemption notification aforementioned, no duty was payable thereon. The Tribunal noted that the said bales were removed from the bonded warehouse after the expiry of the bonding period. They had not been cleared from the warehouse under Section 68 but had been removed on the basis of the order under Section 72. No ex-bond bill of entry for home consumption had been filed by the appellants and no order for clearance for home consumption had been made. Section 15(1)(b) became applicable when goods were cleared from a warehouse under Section 68. After the expiry of the warehousing period the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of entry for home consumption or warehousing in the prescribed form. Section 47, sub-section (1) reads thus : "47. Clearance of goods for home consumption. - (1) Where the proper officer is satisfied that any goods entered for home consumption are not prohibited goods and the importer has paid the import duty, if any, assessed thereon and any charges payable under this Act in respect of the same, the proper officer may make an order permitting clearance of the goods for home consumption." Chapter IX deals with warehousing. Under the terms of Section 59 therein, the importer of goods entered for warehousing and assessed to duty under Section 17 or Section 18 is required to execute a bond binding himself in the sum equal to twice the amount of the duty assessed on such goods to observe all the provisions of the Act and the rules and regulations in respect of such goods and to pay on or before the date specified in the notice of demand all duties and interest payable under Section 61 and rent and charges claimable on account of such goods under the Act. Section 61 reads thus : "SECTION 61. Period for which goods may remain warehoused. - (1) Any warehoused goods may be left in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... period from the expiry of the period of one year or, as the case may be, three months, till the date of the clearance of the goods from the warehouse : Provided that the Board may, if it considers it necessary so to do in the public interest, waive by special order and under circumstances of an exceptional nature to be specified in such order, the whole or part of any interest payable under this sub-section in respect of any warehoused goods." Section 62 states that all warehoused goods shall be subject to the control of the proper officer and that no person shall enter a warehouse or remove any goods therefrom without his permission. Section 68 reads thus : "SECTION 68. Clearance of warehoused goods for home consumption. - The importer of any warehoused goods may clear them for home consumption if - a bill of entry for home consumption in respect of such(a) goods has been presented in the prescribed form ; the import duty leviable on such goods and all penalties,(b) rent, interest and other charges payable in respect of such goods have been paid; and an order for clearance of such goods for home consumption(c) has been made by the proper officer." Section 71 requi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... revailing on the date of clearance from the warehouse for which purpose the importer had to file a fresh bill of entry for home consumption. In other words, it was the date of filing the bill of entry for home consumption which determined the rate of duty in clauses (a) and (b) of Section 15. Inasmuch as the matter was left to the option of the importer and also because a uniform principle was adopted by the Act, there was no room for any legitimate grievance of discrimination. There was no presumption that the rate of duty always went up. It could also go down, in which case the importer stood to gain. 7.Learned counsel for the appellants submitted, in the alternative, that the rate of duty applicable to the said bales was the rate in force on 8th May, 1985, being the date on which the demand notice under Section 72 was issued to the appellants. 8.Learned counsel for the Customs authorities submitted that the permissible period of warehousing of the said bales being over, Section 15(1)(b) had no application, nor was the date of the demand notice under Section 72 relevant. 9.The Tribunal proceeded on the basis that no ex-bond bill of entry for home consumption had been filed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the permissible period has been extended, interest on the amount of duty on the warehoused goods is payable for the period subsequent to the permissible period upto their clearance. 12.Section 72 deals with goods improperly removed from a warehouse. Goods are improperly removed from a warehouse under the terms of sub-section (1) if they are removed without clearance under Section 71 [clause (a)]; if they are taken as samples but without payment of duty [clause (c)]; if a warehousing bond has been executed in respect of the goods under Section 59 but they are not satisfactorily accounted for [clause (d)]; and if they have not been removed from the warehouse on the expiration of the permitted period or its permitted extension [clause (b)]. In all such cases the Customs Officer is empowered to demand, and the importer shall pay, the full amount of duty chargeable on the goods and interest, penalties, rent and other charges thereon. If payment as demanded is not made, it is recoverable by sale of other goods of the importer in the warehouse. 13.Goods which are not removed from a warehouse within the permissible period are treated as goods improperly removed from the warehouse. Such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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