2009 (3) TMI 666

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..... ent. [Order per : B.S.V. Murthy, Member (T)]. - A bill of entry was filed by the appellants for assessment of fuel and provisions consumed by a tug TOPAZ operated by the appellant during its run for towing a dead vessel SAGAR PRABHAT from Visakhapatnam to Alang. The Superintendent of Customs, Bhavnagar did not agree with the appellants claim that the tug was to be treated as a foreig .....

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..... of foreign going vessel. The carriage of goods in the run between any port in India and outside India is no criterion at all for the purposes of a decision as to whether a vessel is foreign going vessel or not. He also submitted that the tug TOPAZ was never used for transportation of coastal cargo and therefore customs duty on stores cannot be sustained in law. 3. Learned DR, on the other hand .....

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..... ssel was never converted into a coastal run and towing of a dead imported vessel not yet cleared for home consumption on its way to Alang via Visakhapatnam did not change the character of the tug from foreign going vessel to a coastal vessel. Accordingly, we allow the appeals with consequential relief to the appellants. Cross objections filed by the Revenue also gets disposed of. (Pronounced in .....

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