1983 (4) TMI 163 - AT - Customs

Refund - Customs - Preferential area rates S/Shri B.B. Gujral K.L. Rekhi Smt. V.S. Rama Devi JJ. REPRESENTED BY Shri R.B. Singh for the Appellants. Shri Sunder Rajan for the Respondent. Order . - Case came up for hearing today i.e. on 4-4-1983. 2. This is a revision application filed under the then Section 131 (now transferred to the Appellate Tribunal under Section 131-B of the Customs Act 1962) against the Order No. S/3-1196/76 dated 234-9-1976 passed by the Appellate Collector of Customs Bombay. 3. In this case the appellants claimed refund of duty on the goods imported by them after re-assessing the duty (1) by taking the actual insurance charges into consideration and (2) at preferential rate of duty as the goods were imported from U.K. Their claim had been rejected as un-substantiated. 4. Shri R.B. Singh on behalf of the appellants showed us the records to prove that the certificate of origin was submitted at the time of clearance. The letter of Insurance Company dated 16-8-1976 was also produced. The appellants had submitted the evidence of actual insurance charges on 17-12-76 but the same was not collected in the Assistant Collector s office. He also showed evidence that the appellants Clearing Agent had addressed a letter to the Appellate Collector of Customs Bombay stating that the suppliers invoice certifying the country of origin was submitted to the Customs authorities well in advance before the finalisation of their case by the Customs authorities. 5. Shri Sunder Rajan on behalf of the respondent stated that the appellants did not comply with the conditions of U.K.-India Trade Agreement Rules as they had not produced the certificate of origin in the prescribed form A and claimed assessment at preferential rate of duty at the clearance time. Hence he stated that the claim of the appellants should be rejected. 6. It is evident from the records that the implied claim had been made at the time of clearance as the invoice containing the certificate of origin and the Bill of Entry clearly brought out all the details regarding the origin of the country etc. and the certificate of origin in the prescribed form had also been produced later. Hence we hold that the claim was made within time and allow the appeal on both the counts with consequential relief to the appellants.

Summary

The case involved a revision application against an order passed by the Appellate Collector of Customs, Bombay. The appellants claimed refund of duty on imported goods from the U.K. The appellants provided evidence of compliance with U.K.-India Trade Agreement Rules. The Tribunal allowed the appeal, stating that the claim was made within time and granted relief to the appellants.