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TMI Blog2000 (7) TMI 960X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Appellate Tribunal that the transfer of documents were made only after the goods had arrived at the port and were kept in the bonded warehouses and thereby the said sales occurred after the goods crossed the customs frontiers which could be treated as local sales. Aggrieved by the said finding and the levy of tax at 8 per cent on the disputed turnovers for the assessment years, the State Trading Corporation of India Ltd., has preferred both these revisions. 3.. In the grounds of revision as well as during arguments, the learned senior counsel Mr. K.J. Chandran who is appearing for the petitioner contended that all the sales were only high sea sales in the course of import as contemplated under section 5(2) of the CST Act and hence it could not be treated as local sales and the appellant is entitled for exemption for the disputed turnovers for both the assessment years. In support of such contention, the learned counsel pointed out the particulars found at pages 207, 209, 211, 213 to 219, etc., of the assessment file and stressed that the finding of the Appellate Tribunal that it is not high sea sales, is erroneous as it had misunderstood that there is only transfer of "bil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... title of the goods were made while the goods were lying in the bonded warehouse and thereafter only the purchasers after getting the transfer of the documents such as "bill of lading", "bill of entry" and "letter of authority", etc., paid customs duty and cleared the goods would amount to that the sale took place after crossing the customs frontiers or before the goods crossed the customs frontiers. 7.. To consider this aspect, it is necessary that we should look into the definition "crossing the customs frontiers of India" as found in section 2(ab) of CST Act, which came into force on September 9, 1976 as per the Amendment Act No. 103 of 1976. By insertion of this definition section, the uncertainty in determining the exact point of time when the goods crossed the territorial waters has been avoided and the point of time for determining when the sale in the course of import takes place has been fixed in section 5 of CST Act, with the aid of the definition section 2(ab) of CST Act. In the case of imports, if the sale of goods occurred after they are assessed to customs duty it would be liable to be treated as sales within the territories of State concerned. This aspect has been ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sales within the territories of State concerned. 9.. In this case, it is clearly established that the transfer of documents of title were made only when the goods were kept in the warehouse after the goods were assessed to customs duty. In such a situation, when the goods could be kept in the warehouse could be seen by going through the relevant provisions of Customs Act, 1962. Section 29 of Customs Act, 1962, deals with the duty of person in-charge of vessel, immediately after arrival of vessels in India. Section 30 of Customs act show that the person in-charge of the vessel should deliver an import manifest within 24 hours after arrival of the vessel to the proper officer of the customs station. Sections 31 to 43 deals with how the "export/import" goods should be dealt with by the officer in-charge in loading and unloading of goods, etc. Thereafter chapter VII would deal with the clearance of imported goods. Section 46 of the Customs Act deals with the entry of goods on importation. The importer should file the bill of entry either for home consumption or for warehousing in the prescribed form as per rules. Section 46(2) of the said Act would say that the "bill of entry" sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tc., had been endorsed and handed over to the purchaser and thereby the transfer of documents of title of the goods were made after the goods were assessed to customs duty, i.e., after the completion of import while the goods were kept in the warehouse. Hence, the purchaser had necessarily paid customs duty and cleared the goods. In this case, vessel arrived on April 6, 1985 and unloaded on April 11, 1985 after filing "bill of entry", etc., by the appellant it was assessed to customs duty and kept in the bonded warehouse and then only the documents were endorsed and handed over to the purchaser and thereafter only the purchaser paid customs duty and cleared the goods long after the goods were kept in the customs warehouse. So, the appellant, imported the goods in bulk and kept the goods in the warehouses after the goods were assessed to customs duty and thereafter only the transfer of documents were made in favour of purchaser, i.e., after the goods were assessed to customs duty. Hence in this respect also there is no question of canalising agent part played by the appellant as held by the lower authorities. 10.. The counsel for the appellant cited a decision in Minerals and Me ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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