Anti-dumping duty during the interregnum upheld for pre-deposit purposes; waiver and stay of recovery were refused.

Anti-dumping duty on imports made between expiry of a provisional notification and issuance of the final notification is treated as leviable under the statutory scheme of Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, with the Customs Act, 1962 applying to assessment, recovery, interest, appeals and related matters. In the interim-relief context, the appellant was required to show undue hardship and a stronger balance of convenience, but failed to produce sufficient material. As a result, waiver of pre-deposit and stay of recovery were denied, and deposit of the full demanded anti-dumping duty was ordered before the appeal could proceed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to waiver of pre-deposit and stay of recovery of the demanded anti-dumping duty pending appeal.

Analysis: The dispute concerned levy of anti-dumping duty on imports made during the interregnum between expiry of the provisional notification and the final notification. The Tribunal held that the scheme of Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 permits levy of anti-dumping duty in accordance with the statutory mechanism, and that the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 relating to assessment, recovery, interest, appeals and allied matters apply to such duty. The Tribunal also relied on the larger-bench line of decisions recognising leviability during the interregnum and found that the appellant had not produced sufficient material to establish undue hardship. On the balance of convenience, the revenue's case was found stronger for purposes of interim relief.

Conclusion: The appellant was not granted waiver of pre-deposit and was directed to deposit the entire demanded anti-dumping duty before the appeal could be heard.

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