Prospective customs exemption rule bars refund where a later notification cannot apply to an earlier assessed import.

A beneficial customs notification operates prospectively unless the statute or the notification expressly provides retrospective effect. Because Notification No. 64/2008-Cus. was issued after the bill of entry had been finally assessed and the goods had already gone out of customs purview, the notification could not be applied to that completed transaction. The refund claim based on the subsequent notification was therefore not maintainable, and the appeal was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to refund by applying Notification No. 64/2008-Cus. to a bill of entry assessed before the notification came into force.

Analysis: The notification was issued after the bill of entry had already been finally assessed. The settled position is that a notification granting benefit does not operate retrospectively unless the statute or the notification expressly so provides. Since the goods had gone out of the customs purview before the notification date, the benefit of the notification was not available.

Conclusion: The claim to refund based on the subsequent notification was not maintainable and the appeal was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption or beneficial customs notification is prospective in operation unless expressly made retrospective, and it cannot be applied to transactions completed before its date of issuance.

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