Project import exemption for drinking water supply pipes denied where benefit was confined to the treatment plant and not distribution units.

Pipes imported for a drinking water supply project were found outside the project import exemption for heading 98.01 because the benefit was treated as confined to the water treatment plant and not to parts of water supply or distribution units. The Tribunal followed its earlier view on the same issue, and that construction had already been upheld by the Supreme Court in the connected matter, making the interpretation binding. On that basis, the claimed exemption was denied and the appeals were rejected.

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Issues: Whether pipes imported for a drinking water supply project were eligible for benefit under the project import exemption notifications.

Analysis: The exemption was claimed under the project import framework for drinking water supply projects notified under heading 98.01. The claim was rejected on the ground that the benefit was meant for the water treatment plant and not for parts of water supply or distribution units. The Tribunal followed the earlier decision on the same issue, and the Supreme Court had already upheld that view in the connected matter.

Conclusion: The imports were held not eligible for the claimed exemption, and the appeals were rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Supreme Court has upheld the interpretation that the project import exemption does not extend to the disputed goods, the Tribunal must apply that binding construction and deny the benefit.

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