9911796707
TMI Blog1990 (5) TMI 135X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssistant Collector had not accepted the invoice value and refixed the assessable value as US$ 1.50 per kg. In appeal before the Collector (Appeals), the Collector has held that the Assistant Collector has relied upon the rationale of goods to the provisions of valuation under Section 14 of the Customs Act, and that the value envisaged in the Section is not the cost of the goods to a particular importer but the price at which such goods are sold in the course of inter national trade between disinterested parties. That in determination of assessable value under Section 14, the Customs authorities are not bound by the value shown invoice as the sole guide. He has, therefore, upheld the order of the Assistant Collector. 2. Against this order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... price at which such or like goods are ordinarily sold, or offered for sale, for delivery at the time and place of importation or exportation, as the case may be in the course of international trade, where the-seller and the buyer have no interest in the business of each other and the price is the sole consideration for the sale or offer for sale : (Provided that such price shall be calculated with reference to the rate of exchange as in force on the date on which a bill of entry is presented under Section 46, or a shipping bill or bill of export, as the case may be, is presented under Section 50); (b) where such price is not ascertainable, the nearest ascertainable equivalent thereof determined in accordance with the rules made in this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ods; on the other hand, the quoted prices relate to wholesale prices in local market and not the prices in international trade as stipulated in Section 14(a) of the said Act. Moreover, the department has not set out the difference in value vis-a-vis the invoice as a ground in the Show Cause Notice on which the department is mainly relying. In the absence of any finding that the department has no other option but to have recourse to Section 14(b), we are of the opinion that there is no reason to discard the invoice prices with the consequence that Section 14(b) is inapplicable in the instant case . The facts in that appeal were that the department had adopted the prices quoted in the newspapers in preference to the invoice value. To quote ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an be had only when the value could not be determined under Section 14(a). In other words, there must be a specific finding by the lower authorities that the value could not be determined under Section 14(a) on the materials placed by the importer or available to the department. In the present case, we find that there have been contemporary imports by the appellants as also by others. It is well-known that import of dry fruits from Afghanistan is a regular feature and the department cannot be heard to say that there were no similar imports at or about that time. Further, recourse to deduced landed cost is a concept under the Sea Customs Act, 1878 and has no relevancy after the introduction of Section 14. It is seen from the Notes on Clauses ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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