Invoice endorsement "ADC not passed on" treated as sufficient for customs refund notification compliance and pre-deposit waiver.

The tribunal took a prima facie view that the invoice endorsement "ADC not passed on" sufficiently met the Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. requirement that the invoice specifically indicate that credit of additional duty of customs would not be admissible. It treated the endorsement as conveying that the additional customs duty had not been passed on to customers, and noted support from earlier tribunal decisions on similar facts. On that basis, waiver of pre-deposit of duty and interest was granted.

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Issues: Whether the condition in Notification No. 102/2007-Cus. requiring the invoice to specifically indicate that no credit of additional duty of customs would be admissible was satisfied by the endorsement "ADC not passed on", and whether pre-deposit of duty and interest should be waived.

Analysis: The sale invoices expressly carried the endorsement "ADC not passed on". The condition in the notification required a specific indication in the invoice that no credit of the additional duty of customs levied under section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 would be admissible. On a prima facie view, the endorsement conveyed that the additional customs duty had not been passed on to the customers. The order also noted that similar issues had been decided in favour of assessees in earlier tribunal decisions.

Conclusion: The invoice endorsement was held to be sufficient at the prima facie stage, and waiver of pre-deposit of duty and interest was granted.

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