End-use certificate disputes for newsprint imports require a speaking order and merits-based reconsideration after hearing.

End-use certificate requests for imported newsprint had to be examined against the assessee's manufacturing process and the relevant entries in the Newsprint Control Order, 2004. A refusal based only on absence from the list of indigenous manufacturers, without addressing the substantive claim or passing a proper speaking order, was not adequate. The later communication was to be treated as an appealable proceeding and should not have been rejected as time-barred by reference to an earlier letter. The grievance was accepted and the matter was remitted for reconsideration after a reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's request for an end-use certificate for import of newsprint ought to be considered on merits and whether the appellate rejection of the subsequent challenge as time-barred was justified.

Analysis: The application for an end-use certificate had to be examined with reference to the assessee's manufacturing process and the relevant entries in the Newsprint Control Order, 2004, particularly the description claimed under Sl. No. 2 of the Schedule. The original authority declined the request by relying on the assessee's absence from the list of indigenous manufacturers at Sl. No. 4, without fairly addressing the assessee's substantive claim or passing a proper speaking order. The later communication stating that the decision had already been conveyed was an appealable proceeding, and it ought to have been considered by the appellate authority on merits rather than rejected as time-barred on the basis of an earlier letter.

Conclusion: The assessee's grievance was accepted and the matter was required to be reconsidered by the original authority after giving a reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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