Advance licence exemption survives warehouse clearance when the licence was valid at the relevant import stage.

The exemption under Notification No. 30/95 applied where the import was covered by a valid advance licence at the relevant stage of importation, even though the licence expired before ex-bond clearance from the bonded warehouse. The reasoning followed earlier cases holding that the notification did not require the advance licence to remain valid up to the date of warehouse clearance. The importer was therefore entitled to the benefit of the notification, and the Revenue's objection based on expiry of the licence at clearance was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the importer was entitled to the benefit of the exemption notification when the advance licence was valid on the date of filing of the home consumption bill of entry but had expired by the time the goods were cleared from the bonded warehouse.

Analysis: The exemption under Notification No. 30/95 dated 31-3-1995 was held applicable where the import was covered by a valid advance licence at the relevant stage of importation and the licence subsequently expired before ex-bond clearance. The reasoning followed the earlier view that the notification did not require the advance licence to remain valid up to the date of clearance from the warehouse, and the same principle had already been applied in comparable cases.

Conclusion: The importer was entitled to the benefit of the notification, and the Revenue's objection on expiry of the advance licence at the time of warehouse clearance was rejected.

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