Clause 61 - Amendment of section 28. - Finance Bill, 2018

61. Amendment of section 28. In the Customs Act, in section 28, (i) in sub-section (1), in clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:- Provided that before issuing notice, the proper officer shall hold pre-notice consultation with the person chargeable with duty or interest in such manner as may be prescribed; ; (ii) after sub-section (7), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:- (7A) Save as otherwise provided in clause (a) of sub-section (1) or in sub-section (4), the proper officer may issue a supplementary notice under such circumstances and in such manner as may be prescribed, and the provisions of this section shall apply to such supplementary notice as if it was issued under the said sub-section (1) or sub-section (4). ; (iii) in sub-section (9), (a) the words where it is possible to do so , at both the places where they occur, shall be omitted; (b) the following provisos shall be inserted, namely: Provided that where the proper officer fails to so determine within the specified period, any officer senior in rank to the proper officer may, having regard to the circumstances under which the proper officer was prevented from determining the amount of duty or interest under sub-section (8), extend the period specified in clause (a) to a further period of six months and the period specified in clause (b) to a further period of one year: Provided further that where the proper officer fails to determine within such extended period, such proceeding shall be deemed to have concluded as if no notice had been issued. ; (iv) after sub-section (9), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely: (9A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (9), where the proper officer is unable to determine the amount of duty or interest under sub-section (8) for the reason that (a) an appeal in a similar matter of the same person or any other person is pending before the Appellate Tribunal or the High Court or the Supreme Court; or (b) an interim order of stay has been issued by the Appellate Tribunal or the High Court or the Supreme Court; or (c) the Board has, in a similar matter, issued specific direction or order to keep such matter pending; or (d) the Settlement Commission has admitted an application made by the person concerned, the proper officer shall inform the person concerned the reason for non-determination of the amount of duty or interest under sub-section (8) and in such case, the time specified in subsection (9) shall apply not from the date of notice, but from the date when such reason ceases to exist. ; (v) after sub-section (10), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely: (10A) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where an order for refund under sub-section (2) of section 27 is modified in any appeal and the amount of refund so determined is less than the amount refunded under said sub-section, the excess amount so refunded shall be recovered along with interest thereon at the rate fixed by the Central Government under section 28AA, from the date of refund up to the date of recovery, as a sum due to the Government. (10B) A notice issued under sub-section (4) shall be deemed to have been issued under subsection (1), if such notice demanding duty is held not sustainable in any proceeding under this Act, including at any stage of appeal, for the reason that the charges of collusion or any wilful mis-statement or suppression of facts to evade duty has not been established against the person to whom such notice was issued and the amount of duty and the interest thereon shall be computed accordingly. ; (vi) after Explanation 3, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely: Explanation 4. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that in cases where notice has been issued for non-levy, not paid, short-levy or short-paid or erroneous refund after the 14th day of May, 2015, but before the date on which the Finance Bill, 2018 receives the assent of the President, they shall continue to be governed by the provisions of section 28 as it stood immediately before the date on which such assent is received. .