Import restrictions under Section 111(d) turn on shipment date; unremanded confiscation grounds cannot be added on remand.

A remand limited to reconsideration of import legality under Section 111(d) could not be enlarged to sustain confiscation under Section 111(m), so the misdeclaration finding was set aside. For Section 111(d), the decisive date was the date of shipment; as second-hand capital goods then required a specific licence under the applicable policy, confiscation was upheld. Relief was limited to reduction of redemption fine and deletion of penalty in line with the precedent relied on, leaving the confiscation intact.

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Issues: (i) Whether confiscation could be sustained under Section 111(m) of the Customs Act, 1962 on the remand ordered by the Tribunal; (ii) whether the import was hit by Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 and, if so, what relief should follow.

Issue (i): Whether confiscation could be sustained under Section 111(m) of the Customs Act, 1962 on the remand ordered by the Tribunal.

Analysis: The remand was confined to reconsideration of legality of the import under Section 111(d). There was no direction to re-adjudicate misdeclaration of value or to reopen confiscation under Section 111(m). The finding on Section 111(m) therefore travelled beyond the remit of the remand.

Conclusion: The finding of contravention under Section 111(m) was set aside.

Issue (ii): Whether the import was hit by Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 and, if so, what relief should follow.

Analysis: For deciding violation under Section 111(d), the relevant date was the date of shipment of the goods. On that date, import of the second-hand capital goods required a specific licence under the then applicable policy. The confiscation under Section 111(d) was therefore sustained, but the quantum of redemption fine and penalty was reassessed in light of the comparable precedent relied on for reduction of fine and deletion of penalty.

Conclusion: Contravention under Section 111(d) was upheld, the redemption fine was reduced, and the penalty was set aside.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded only to the extent of setting aside the finding under Section 111(m) and granting relief on the fine and penalty, while the confiscation under Section 111(d) remained intact.

Ratio Decidendi: For import restrictions under Section 111(d), the decisive date is the date of shipment, and a remand limited to one issue cannot be expanded to sustain an unremanded ground of confiscation.

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