9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (9) TMI 329X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... /s. Sun Co. Ltd., Tokyo, as per Contract No. 2686 dated 24-10-1999 @ U.S. $ 1164 PMT; that they filed Bill of Entry No. 104110 on 24-11-1999 for the clearance of the impugned goods; that the Commissioner, under the impugned Order, confiscated the impugned goods with an option to redeem the same on payment of fine of Rs. 10 lakhs, imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh and enhanced the value to U.S.$ 4643 per M.T. on the basis of the prices of the goods mentioned in the Chemical Trade Intelligence Bulletin of October 1, 1999 . The learned Counsel, further, submitted that the assessable value has been enhanced entirely on the basis of price of imports of similar goods shown in the said Bulletin; that as per Rule 4 of the Customs Valuation (Determ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nts; that they had purchased the goods from first stage dealer who is in Japan and who has purchased goods directly from manufacturer whereas in case of Bill of Entry dated 8-12-1999 there is nothing to show whether the foreign supplier was the first stage or the second stage dealer and what was the manufacturer s price. He relied upon the decision in the case of Basant Industries v. Collector of Customs, 1993 (66) E.L.T. 93 (T) wherein it was held that as the quantity imported by the appellant is 2 times more than the quantity imported under the invoice relied upon by the Department, the price mentioned therein cannot be treated as comparable price for the purpose of Section 14(1) of the Customs Act. The learned Advocate mentioned that th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... into a contract with foreign supplier in September, 1999 and as such the price of imports effected in July and mentioned in the Bulletin is contemporaneous; that the price declared by the Appellants is on a very low side and even if declining trend is examined, the price of the impugned goods cannot go down to U.S. $ 1164 per M.T. from U.S. $ 4643 mentioned in the Bulletin, from July to September, 1999; the Department has thus accepted the price as mentioned in Bulletin of October 1st, 1999 being the contemporary one. He also contended that the price has shown an upward trend as in Bill of Entry dated 8-12-1999, the price is U.S. $ 5900 per M.T. Alternatively he submitted that as the Appellants did not avail of opportunity of personal hear ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n the next month. In the face of such downward trend it is very important to see the data for November, 1999 before reaching any finding about what could have been the price in that month. When the montly data was available and showed a downward trend, we are at a loss to understand how the order was passed in April, 2000 without considering the data for the month of import. 5. We, further, observe that after this observation made by the Bench, the Revenue has only produced a Bill of Entry dated 8-12-1999 showing the price of U.S. $ 5900 per M.T. but this import cannot be considered to be import of identical goods under Rule 5 of the Customs Valuation Rules. For applying the value of identical goods these must be imported at or about the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... price declared by the Appellants is not the correct contracted price. We also find that the Adjudicating Authority relied upon the Chemical Trade Intelligence Bulletin of October 1st, 1999 as it was more proximate to the contract entered into by the Appellants in September, 1999. We agree with the learned Advocate for the Appellants that the said Bulletin for October, 1999 did not contain the price of the imports made in September or October but the imports made in July. Further, there is no indication as to when the contract for those imports was entered into. We, therefore, hold that Revenue has not succeeded in showing that the price shown in the invoices does not reflect the true sale price. We, therefore, set aside the impugned Order a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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