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TMI Blog2008 (8) TMI 196X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yan, Member (T) Shri V.K. Agarwal, Advocate, for the Appellant. Shri Vijay Kumar, DR, for the Respondent. [Order per : Justice S.N. Jha, President] - This appeal by the assessee is directed against the order-in-original of Commissioner (I G) dated 27.12.2005 confirming customs duty demand of Rs. 60,91,872/- on the appellant. 2. The facts of the case briefly stated are that in December, 1986 the appellant imported CT Scanner worth Rs. 56,36,969/-. The import being duty free in terms of Notification No. 279/83-Cus dated 30.09.1983, the appellant was exempted from payment of duty and as such no customs duty was paid on the said import. In June, 1994 the instrument was sold to one Shri Ram Singh Hospital and Heart Institute. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... esuming that in this case also, it could be alleged that duty was not levied by reason of collusion or any willful mis-statement or suppression of facts by the importer, the show cause notice should have been issued within 5 years from the relevant date. Relevant date in this case will be the date on which the proper officer made an order for the clearance of the goods. A show cause notice in this case has been issued on 13.2.95 which is more than 8 years after the clearance of the goods. The demand for duty amounting to Rs. Rs. 60,91,872/- is, therefore, not enforceable under Sec. 28(1) of Customs Act, 1962." 3. Learned Commissioner, however, held that the sale of machine to Shri Ram Singh Hospital was in contravention of the condition ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d is time barred and, therefore, for reasons stated by the then Commissioner of Customs in his order dated 30.07.1996, the impugned show cause notice was barred by limitation and it could not be adjudicated against the appellant. 6. On behalf of the Revenue, it was submitted that the scope of the present show cause notice is wider than the previous one; the Revenue now seeks to recover customs duty on the ground of violation of the condition of Notification No. 279/83-Cus under which import was made duty free. He also submitted that fresh show cause notice was issued in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in Mediwell Hospital and Health Care Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India, 1997 (89) E.L.T. 425 (S.C.), in which it was held t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ority and on its basis had imported equipments without payment of customs duty. The Court clarified that the underlying object of the exemption was to give free treatment to 40% outdoor patients and entire indoor patients of the lower income group which object must be achieved at any cost. In the instant case, the alleged contravention arising from the sale of CT Scanner cannot be said to be of continuing nature. The relevant date for the purpose of levying customs duty under Section 28 of the Act being the date of release of the goods, i.e CT Scanner which was in December, 1986, the show cause notice was clearly time-barred. It was on this ground, precisely, that the previous show cause notice was dropped. Any attempt to re-open the matter ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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