9911796707
TMI Blog1992 (10) TMI 153X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... according to the appellants version, intimated the Customs House about their intention to file Bills of Entry for the Cargo and the Customs House Agents, by a letter dated 28-2-1988 addressed to the Assistant Collector, sought to file Bills of Entry with photo copies of documents like invoice, bill of lading, etc. saying that the original documents have not been received by their bankers from Burma. It is the appellants case that the Customs House did not accept these Bills of Entry for presentation. There was a Public Notice No. 13/88 dated 12-2-1988 issued by the Collector of Customs, Bangalore, according to which in view of the presentation of the Budget on 29-2-1988, the period from 24-2-1988 to 4-3-1988 (both days inclusive) will be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t they were prevented from doing so by the Customs House and their letter of 28-2-1988 was referred to in support. The Customs House Public Notice No. 13/88, according to the appellants, does not mean that Bills of Entry in completed form with photostat copy of the documents like invoice, bill of lading, etc., should not be accepted. A reference was made to Sec. 46(4) of the Customs Act, 1962 which states for the importer, while presenting the bills of entry should produce any other document like invoice, if any . It is not, therefore, compulsory to produce invoice invariably. The Ld. Counsel relied upon the case of Priyanka Overseas Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India - 1991 (51) E.L.T. 185 (S.C.) wherein the Supreme Court had held that if the Re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty applicable to any imported goods, shall be the rate in the case of goods entered for home consumption under Sec. 46, on the date on which a bill of entry in respect of such goods is presented under that section. In the present case, the bill of entry which has actually been presented by the appellants, herein, on which the goods have been assessed on different dates on records are all dated subsequent to 28-2-1988. On this basis, therefore, the orders of the lower authorities that the rate of duty prevailing on the date of presentation of the bills of entry have been correctly applied, has to be accepted. The appellants contention is that they were prevented from filing the bills of entry on 28-2-1988 by the Customs House. A copy of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... respectively of C.A. 62 (Further instructions in regard to noting of the bill of entry, the Manual of Import Department may please be referred to)" 5. In view of above, it is seen that in the present case, the admitted position is that the appellants were not in possession of even a single original document. Presentation and noting of the bill of entry is to be permitted only after proper scrutiny of the various particulars declared in the documents, like, invoice and bill of lading. Such a verification and scrutiny could not properly take place when no original documents accompanied the bill of entry. Therefore, when the exercise involves such comparison and scrutiny of the particulars of the documents having impact on the rate of duty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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