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TMI Blog2015 (11) TMI 677X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ground that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has issued an Office Memorandum dated 24.11.2014 and directed that old and used tyres for direct use should be treated as "prohibited goods" instead of "restricted goods". It is the case of the applicant that if under the EXIM policy, the import of used pneumatic tyres is permissible under the restricted or free category, the customs authorities cannot refuse assessment and clearance of such goods on the ground that such import not being permissible under some office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. 3. Mr. Devan Parikh, Senior Advocate, learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the consignment sought to be imported and as imported has all along been described as "old and used discarded tyres not fit for fast moving vehicles and heavy loaded vehicles". Such import is of old and used tyres for re-use since the said tyres have a 55% residual life and such old tyres have been regularly imported since the past more than a decade all over the country by various importers. It was submitted that the import of the consignment in question falls under Chapter 40 of the Customs Tariff Act, 2014-15. The att ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icant are in good condition and usable. Reference was made to the certificate dated 24.3.2015 of the Surveyor, Assessor and Valuer as appointed by the Customs Department who has certified that "the tyres inspected on random basis are not new ones but in GOOD CONDITION and USABLE. During the inspection, it is observed that there is no scrap tyres.". Moreover, the officers of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), who have inspected the consignment pursuant to the directions issued by this court, have also certified that the tyres were found to be used tyres without any cut, worn out and retreading and that the tyres were not hazardous material. 6. It was further submitted that according to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the said import though of used pneumatic tyres, would fall within the definition of "hazardous waste under rules 3(1) read with entry No.B-3140 (being Part- B) of the rules and can be imported only with the prior permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It was submitted that the stand of the Ministry of Environment and Forests is based on a misreading of the provisions of the rules for the reason that undisputedly the import in question ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with law. The applicant, in contravention of the rules, has imported second hand tyres without obtaining the prior approval prescribed under the rules and therefore, in view of the provisions of rule 17(2), it is required to re-export the imported wastes at its own cost. As regards the validity of the impugned office memorandum, the attention of the court was invited to rule 23 of the rules, to point out that the same provides that the Authority specified in column 2 of Schedule VII shall perform the duties as specified in column 3 of the Schedule, subject to the provisions of the rules. Referring to Schedule VII, the learned counsel pointed out the duties of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It was submitted that one of the duties cast upon the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is identification of hazardous wastes and therefore, the Ministry is duly empowered to identify as to which goods are hazardous in nature and prohibit import thereof. It was, accordingly, urged that the goods imported by the petitioner being waste pneumatic tyres, the import of which is prohibited by the impugned office memorandum, the applicant is not entitled to the grant of any relief, as praye ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f pumpable discards into wells, salt domes of naturally occurring repositories, etc.); surface impoundment (e.g. placement of liquid or sludge discards into pits, ponds or lagoons, etc.); specially engineered landfill (e.g., placement into lined discrete cells which are capped and isolated from one another and the environment, etc.); release into a water body except seas/oceans; release into seas/oceans including sea-bed insertion; biological treatment not specified elsewhere in the Annexure which results in final compounds or mixtures which are discarded by means of any of the operations in Section-A; physico chemical treatment not specified else where in the Annexure which results in final compounds or mixtures which are discarded by means of any of the operations in Section A (e.g., evaporation, drying, calcination, neutralization, precipitation, etc.); and incineration on land, etc. Therefore, even waste pneumatic tyres, if they are destined for the operations enumerated under Section-A of Appendix IV, do not fall within the category of waste pneumatic tyres. Under the circumstances, the import in question which is comprised of used pneumatic tyres which are described as old an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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