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2011 (7) TMI 363 - AT - CustomsEPCG licence - The Commissioner of Customs has rejected the request of the appellants to amend 191 shipping bills by deletion of EPCG licence number indicated therein, under the provisions of Section 149 of the Customs Act 1962 - note that there is no correspondence from the DGFT to show the exact number of shipping bills which have been taken into account for calculating export obligation under the licences - Therefore, necessary verification of the shipping bills involved in both the EPCG licences is required to be made with the office of the Zonal JDGFT, Chennai and EPCG section of Custom House, Chennai - Since the appellants have now produced originals of 141 shipping bills, they are required to be scrutinized in the light of the provisions contained in Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 - Therefore set aside the impugned order and remit the case to the adjudicating authority with a direction to amend 191 shipping bills by deletion of the EPCG licence number after being satisfied that the 191 shipping bills have not been utilized for fulfilling the export obligation under the EPCG licence number shown prior to the deletion, and issuing FMS scrips to the appellants.
Issues:
Request for amendment of shipping bills under Section 149 of the Customs Act 1962 to delete EPCG license number, rejection of request for issuance of Duty Credit Scrips under the Focus Market Scheme, rejection of request for amendment of shipping bills by the DGFT, requirement of documents for amendment, time limit for filing request for conversion, verification of shipping bills for export obligation fulfillment, setting aside the impugned order and remitting the case for amendment of shipping bills. Analysis: 1. The appellants sought to amend 191 shipping bills by deleting the EPCG license number under Section 149 of the Customs Act 1962. They had fulfilled export obligations under two EPCG licenses, and the Zonal JDGFT had issued Export Obligation Discharge Certificates. The appellants applied for Duty Credit Scrips under the Focus Market Scheme, but the request was rejected based on Circular No.16. They then requested the Customs to delete the EPCG license number from the shipping bills to avail FMS benefits. 2. The rejection of the request was based on Circular No.16, stating that FMS duty credit could not be granted for exports used to fulfill EPCG export obligations. The appellants argued that the exports under the 191 shipping bills were not counted towards E.O. fulfillment, as the EPCG licenses had already been redeemed. They requested the amendment without producing documents existing before export, leading to rejection by the Zonal JDGFT. 3. The appellants contended that the existence of exports itself was proof of fulfillment, and they provided original documents for 50 shipping bills during the hearing. They submitted the remaining bills except three being traced by Zonal JDGFT. The time limit for conversion request within one month of rejection was challenged, as Section 149 does not specify such a limit. Verification of shipping bills for export obligation fulfillment was deemed necessary. 4. The Tribunal acknowledged the merit in the appellants' contention and required scrutiny of the shipping bills to ensure non-utilization for E.O. fulfillment. The impugned order was set aside, remitting the case to amend the 191 shipping bills by deleting the EPCG license number, subject to verification by Zonal JDGFT and Custom House, Chennai, and issuing FMS scrips to the appellants. 5. The judgment disposed of the appeal by remitting the case for amendment, emphasizing the need for thorough verification and adherence to Customs Act provisions. The operative part of the order was pronounced on 15.7.2011.
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