Tribunal allows appeal to amend Shipping Bills for Advance Licence Numbers

The Tribunal allowed the appeal, setting aside the disallowance of the request to amend the Shipping Bills for the inclusion of Advance Licence Numbers. The appellants successfully argued that the omission of the Advance Licence Numbers was inadvertent, as the related numbers were present in the accompanying invoices. Despite initial objections by the adjudicating Commissioner, the Tribunal considered the subsequent certification by Central Excise authorities and took a lenient view to promote exports. As a result, the matter was remitted to the lower authority for allowing the requested amendments and conversion of the shipping bills.

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Issues:
Disallowance of request to amend Shipping Bills for inclusion of Advance Licence Numbers.

Analysis:
The judgment pertains to the disallowance of a request by the appellants to amend the impugned Shipping Bills for the inclusion of Advance Licence Numbers that were inadvertently not recorded at the time of filing. The appellants argued that while EPCG Licence Numbers were recorded on the shipping bills, the related Advance Licence Numbers were omitted due to inadvertence. However, they contended that the accompanying invoices contained both the EPCG Licence Numbers and Advance Licence Numbers. Additionally, the Central Excise authorities certified the use of imported inputs in the exported consignments. The adjudicating Commissioner had initially disallowed the amendment and conversion of EPCG shipping bills into DEEC shipping bills, citing that the certificate from the Central Excise authorities was issued after the exports had taken place, not available at the time of export. Despite this, the invoices submitted by the appellants contained both numbers, and considering the subsequent certification by the Central Excise authorities, the Tribunal deemed it necessary to take a lenient view in the interest of export promotion. Consequently, the impugned order was set aside, and the matter was remitted to the lower authority for allowing the requested amendment and conversion of the shipping bills. The appeal was allowed by way of remand.

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