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2014 (4) TMI 232

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..... porter of the Stainless Steel Cold Rolled Coils. The said products were imported by the appellant during the period 2009-12 and appropriate customs duty was discharged. All the Bills of Entry during the relevant period were finally assessed by the lower Authorities after physical examination of the goods. Govt of India on an application made by the domestic industries, initiated an investigation for imposition of anti dumping duty on Cold Rolled Flat Products of Stainless Steel and definitive anti dumping duty were imposed by Notification No. 14/2010-customs dtd 20, Feb. 2010. Subsequently, after initiating a mid term review, the designated authority issued corrigendum which was notified by Notification NO. 86/2011-Customs wherein the scope of the subject goods was expanded as also extending the tolerance limit of the products under consideration on which anti-dumping duty was imposed. The Customs authorities seized the consignments imported by the appellants for which Bills of Entry were filed on 14.10.2011 and released the same provisionally. After conducting investigation and recording various statements, DRI issued the Show Cause Notice dtd 13.4.2012 to main appellant as well a .....

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..... d the effect of the same, he would submit that the exclusion of the category of the particular grade will be effective from the date i.e., 7th Feb. 2011 and the tolerance limit which has been brought into play by the notification would not effect the goods imported by the main appellant. After making this submission he would draw our attention to the findings recorded by the Adjudicating Authority and submit that the Adjudicating Authority has erred in applying the notification retrospectively as regards the Cold rolled Flat Products imported by the main appellant of Grade EN 1.4512 and also the tolerance limit made applicable for the goods imported seems to be incorrect. It is his submission that once the designated authority conducts a mid-term review, it is quasi-judicial function and any findings notified thereof which are made effective by issuance of Notification by the Dept. of Revenue would be effective from the date the said findings are notified. It is also his submission that the tolerance limit as brought into play has to be on the positive side only, which would mean that any goods which are imported having width less than 1250 mm will be covered and any goods which ar .....

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..... hat the issue to be decided by us is whether the Stainless Steel Cold Rolled Sheets which have been imported by the appellant are covered under Notification 86/2011cus for imposing anti dumping duty or otherwise as also whether the corrigendum issued on Feb, 7, 2012 is applicable retrospectively for the goods imported by the appellant having specifications of Ferritic Grade 1.4512. 8. The factual matrix is that the appellant had imported Cold Rolled Flat Stainless Steel products of Grade EN 1.4512 and declared the same as such, also declared the width of the said Stainless Steel Flat Products as more than 1250 mm. The Adjudicating Authority has come to the conclusion that corrigendum issued by the designated authority after the mid term review of anti-dumping duty initiated would be applicable from the date the anti-dumping duty was imposed. 9. The findings of the Adjudicating authority in applying the corrigendum dtd Feb. 7, 2012 and also applying the tolerance level fixed by Notification No. 86/2011-customs from the date of the imposition of anti dumping duty is not in accordance with the law for more than one reason. 9.1 Firstly, we find that the dimensions which were declare .....

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..... n, 443,441, EN 1.4835, 1.4547, 1.4539, 1.4438, 1.4318, 1.4833 and EN 1.4509, in the original final findings, is maintained in view of the fact that the evidence of actual supply of those grades during POI has not been furnished by the petitioner nor any evidence in support of actual manufacture of these grades has been submitted. c) In the light of the above, the Authority will notify a corrigendum to the final findings No.14/6/2008-DGAD dated 24.11.2009. (emphasis is supplied) It can be noticed from the above that the designated authority had specifically stated that the subject goods of width beyond 1250 mm is excluded from imposition of anti-dumping duty and same is maintained in mid-term review. If that being so, we find that the Adjudicating Authority could not have applied the tolerance level as prescribed by the Notification No. 86/2011-Cus to the products imported by the appellants. 9.2 Secondly, we also find that the designated authority while recording the findings on definitive anti-dumping duty had specifically excluded the Cold Rolled Flat products of Stainless Steel of grade EN 1.4512 from the purview of the definitive anti dumping duty. In our view, the corrigendu .....

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..... s been declared a 1251 MM or marginally above the 1250 MM limit specified in the final finding, thereby escaping anti-dumping duty. In the above said background the Designated Authority has examined and found that the product under consideration in the final findings of the original investigation was defined as cold rolled flat products of stainless steel of width of 600 MM up o 1250 MM of all series further worked than cold rolled (cold reduced) with a thickness of upto 4MM. The basic ground for seeking mid-term review by the domestic industry was that in absence of specification of tolerance even width upto 1250 MM escaped duty as imported widths. 9) It is observed by the Designated Authority that the present review is not for enhancement of he product scope is or clarification with regard to the prescribing tolerance in respect of the width of the product under consideration and no addition to new product has been requested. Thereafter the said Notification came into force which prescribed that whereby width tolerance of (+) 30MM was applied to mill-edged cold rolled flat products of stainless steel for specified width of 1000 MM or more, but not exceeding 1250 MM. 10) From t .....

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..... set aside the impugned order and allow the appeal with consequential relief.        10. We also find that in identical issue subsequently also, in the case Arti C Bhuta, Chetan M Bhuta - 2013 TIOL 1628 cestat-Mum Coordinate Bench followed the order of in the case of Mascot International (Supra) and allowed the appeal filed by the assessee therein. In our view, the ratio laid down by these two decisions of the Tribunal on an identical issue and in respect of the very same anti dumping duty and notification No. 86/2011  cus is directly applicable in this case. We are of the view that the impugned order which confirms the demand of the duty, confiscates the goods imported by the appellant is unsustainable and is liable to be set aside and we do so. 11. Since we have set aside the impugned order on merits itself, we are of the view that there is no reason for visiting the other appellants with any penalty. We also not recording any other findings on the submission made by both sides. 12. For the foregoing reason, the impugned order is set a aside and the appeals are allowed with consequential relief. (Operative part pronounced in the Court)
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