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2015 (2) TMI 741

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..... oisture, this argument does not stand to any reason. The test certificate clearly defines the parameter as "Inherent Moisture" and not as residual moisture. The said test reports have been accepted by the appellants and they have never disputed the same. From the records, it is seen that the customs authorities had referred the matter to the Central Revenue Control Laboratory who had confirmed that the values of Ash content, sulphur content and Btu are to be applied on Air Dry Basis (ADB). There is nothing on record nor any evidence to the contrary led by the appellant to rebut the correctness of the calculation done by the Revenue. In this factual scenario, we do not find any merit in the contention that there is an error in the computation made by the Revenue. We further observe that a co-ordinate bench of this Tribunal at Bangalore had considered an identical issue involving the same goods imported by some other importers, at length and had passed a final order classifying the goods as "bituminous coal" under CTH 2701.12 and rejecting the contention of the importers that the goods are classifiable as "steam coal". In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, judicial disci .....

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..... 23/- and ₹ 11,10,30,712/- against Finolex and Gupta Coal respectively along with interest thereon and also imposing equivalent amount of penalties. Aggrieved of the same, the appellants are before us. Since the issues involved in both these appeals are common, they are taken up together for consideration. 2. The facts relevant to the case are briefly as follows:- 2.1 M/s Finolex imported coal vide 4 bills of entry Nos: 59 dt. 30-3-2012, 16 dt. 27-9-2012, 4 dt. 4-11-2012 and 42 dt. 21-12-2012. The goods were described as 'steam coal' and classified under CTH 27011920 and assessed as such and cleared on payment of import duty at the rate of Nil BCD and 1% CVD. Later on, it was found that as per test done at the load port, the coal imported had a volatile matter content of more than 15% and gross calorific value of more than 5833 Kcal/ Kg. and therefore, the goods merited classification under CTH 2701 12 00 as 'bituminous coal' attracting BCD @ 5% adv. + CVD of 6% adv. Accordingly a show cause notice dated 8-7-2013 was issued proposing to classify the imported coal as bituminous coal' under CTH 2701 12 00 and demanding differential duty of ₹ 11,7 .....

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..... en in the ASTM, it denotes residual moisture, that is moisture remaining in the sample after air drying. IM by definition is the moisture that exists as an integral part of the coal in its natural state, including water in pores, but not that present in macroscopically visible factures. In other words, the IM indicated in the test report is residual moisture. If the correct IM is taken and revised computation of GCV is done on moist, mineral-matter-free (MMF) basis, Kcal/kg in the case of consignments under import would work out to less than 5833. Therefore, the goods under import will not satisfy the definition of bituminous coal and would merit classification as 'steam coal' falling under CTH 2701 19 20 and therefore, there will not be any differential duty liability. (2) The customs authorities, at the time of import had accepted the declaration of the importers and had finally assessed the goods to duty. Therefore, the customs authorities cannot revise the assessments already done without challenging the original assessments by filing an appeal before the competent authority. (3) Since as per the import and commercial documents pertaining to the transaction, the g .....

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..... le matter limit and the gross calorific value limit in the case of imported coal and the said authority has confirmed the applicability of the formulae to the coal imported. He has further confirmed that the values of Ash content, Sulphur content and Btu are to be applied on Air Dry Basis. (b) From the certificates of Sampling and Analysis of Shipment of Coal test conducted at the load port in Indonesia, it is clearly seen that the volatile matter limit (on a dry, mineral-matter basis) of the coal imported exceeds 14% and the calorific value (on moist, mineral-matter-free-basis) exceeds 5833 kcl/kg. This position has also been admitted by Shri. Rajessh Vasant Shanbhag, General Manager of M/s Finolex in his statement recorded on 10-6-2013. (c) The ld. Consultant also relies on the decision of this Tribunal in an identical case pertaining to Coastal Energy Pvt. Ltd. Others decided by the South Zonal Bench vide Final Order No. 20998-21002 dated 20-06-2014. In the said case also the dispute pertained to classification of coal imported by the appellants, that is, whether classifiable as a 'bituminous coal' as claimed by the Revenue or as 'steam coal' as claimed b .....

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..... calorific value limit (on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis) equal to or greater than 5833 Kcal/kg. Therefore, the purposes of customs tariff, any coal satisfying the above definition will merit classification as 'bituminous coal' under CTH 2701.12, notwithstanding the fact the goods may be known otherwise in the commercial/trade parlance. It is a settled position in law as held by the hon'ble apex court in the case of Indo-International Industries vs. Commissioner of Sales Tax, U.P. [1981 (8) ELT 325 (SC)] that- if any term or expression has been defined in the enactment, then it must be understood in the sense in which it is defined but in the absence of any definition being given in the enactment, the meaning of the term in common parlance or commercial parlance has to be adopted. In the present case, the Customs Tariff defines 'bituminous coal' by means of certain specification and if those specifications are satisfied in the case of imported coal, they will have to be classified as bituminous coal' notwithstanding the fact that in commercial parlance they might be known otherwise. 5.3 The argument of the appellant since Inherent Moisture is c .....

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