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TMI Blog2015 (11) TMI 1498X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ls and trading thereof. They obtained transferable DFIAs issued against exports. The DFIAs permit duty free import of Boric Acid. The appellants import of Boric Acid under Bill of Entry No. 781840 dt. 27.11.2009 against transferable DFIA No. 0310485994 dt. 11.9.2008 was rejected duty free clearance under Order-in-Original No. 54/2009 dt. 8.12.2009 passed by Assistant Commissioner for failure of the appellant to produce an import permit from the Central Insecticide Board & Registration Committee (CIB &RC) under the Insecticide Act 1968. In appeal, the case was decided by Commissioner (Appeals) in appellants favour. Revenue challenge the same before CESTAT. The appellant filed writ petition before the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No.14 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s while clearing their consignments on provisional basis. But with the passing of CESTAT Final Order dt. 19.12.2013, the department finally assessed all Bills of Entry and released Bank Guarantees and PD Bonds from March 2014 onwards. The import under DFIA Licenses was considered by the Mumbai CESTAT Bench which held vide order No. A/05/14/SMB/C-IV dt. 19.12.2013 that the appellant is entitled to get benefit under the DFIA Scheme for import of Boric Acid. But due to litigation for many years, the period of validity of many Licenses held by the appellant had expired. Therefore, the appellants represented to the Customs department that as the DFIAs could not be utilized due to the ongoing litigation, the validity period of licenses had expire ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eard both sides. 4. The Ld. Counsel for the appellant states that the appellant could not utilize the DFIAs, legally transferred in their name, for claiming duty free benefits for import of Boric Acid against input goods because of ongoing litigation. The Commissioner (Appeals) while appreciating that the matter was in litigation, however did not find any reason to interfere with the decision of the lower authority. According to Ld. Counsel, the appellant only wanted a confirmation from the department confirming the aspect of litigation during which the Licenses could not be utilized. The Licensing authorities could not have revalidated the licenses without factual confirmation from Customs explaining the reasons for non-utilization. 5. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . AR in his written submissions has raised the issues of evidence regarding transfer of licenses and amounts unutilized, validity of licenses on date of transfer etc. We find that these issues were never before the lower authorities nor have we seen any evidence to support these doubts. Therefore, we reject these contentions. 8. It is noted that after the department started finalizing the Bills of Entry and releasing PD Bonds and Bank Guarantee from March 2014 onwards, the appellant vide their letter dated 12th April 2014, informed the department that various licenses held by them could not be debited against import of Boric Acid as the matter was in litigation and it was not possible for them to submit huge amounts of Bank Guarantees ever ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oods have been permitted to be imported against such Licenses by the Tribunal and the Bills of Entry finalized, the appellants must get the favour of revalidation for all Licenses held by them during the period of litigation. 10. The Ld. AR's contention is that the licenses should be in custody of Customs to enable the appellants to seek revalidation in terms of Para 2.13.1 of the Handbook of Procedures. In our view, it is for DGFT to take a view and revalidate the Licenses. The fact remains that the Licenses were presented to the Custom Authorities for debit but the goods were cleared on provisional basis. Due to ongoing litigation all licenses were also not presented for debit for obvious reasons. The appellants cannot be expected to pre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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