Customs notification benefit upheld where Chartered Accountant certificate and invoices proved sale to actual users in the leather industry.

Eligibility for Notification No. 23/98-Cus. turned on whether the assessee could prove sale of imported material to actual users in the leather industry through a Chartered Accountant's certificate and verified invoices. The original adjudicating authority accepted the certificate after cross-checking it against the invoices and found it genuine; that factual finding was supported by the record. The appellate authority's doubt was based on conjecture rather than evidence. On the material available, the tribunal found the original order stronger in law and on facts, and the notification benefit was available to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of Notification No. 23/98-Cus. dated 01-03-1998 was available on the basis of the Chartered Accountant's certificate and verified invoices showing sale of imported material to actual users in the leather industry.

Analysis: The original adjudicating authority had accepted the Chartered Accountant's certificate after verifying it with the invoices and found the certificate genuine. The appellate authority's doubt about the certificate was not supported by the factual record and rested on conjectures and surmises. The record indicated that the imported material had been sold to actual users in the leather industry, and the order of the original authority was found to be on a sounder footing in law and on facts for the purposes of the notification.

Conclusion: The benefit of the notification was held to be available, and the assessee's case was accepted.

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