Special Additional Duty exemption under Notification No. 20/2006-Cus was unavailable after removal from the statutory Schedule.

Entry 50 of Notification No. 20/2006-Cus granted Special Additional Duty exemption only to goods still specified in the First Schedule to the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957. As the imported goods had been removed from that Schedule by the Finance Act, 2011, the exemption was stated to be unavailable for the relevant period. The challenge based on Section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and an interim order was not accepted as a basis to negate the levy. The document records that the Special Additional Duty demand was upheld and the appeals were dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to exemption from Special Additional Duty under Notification No. 20/2006-Cus for the imported goods, and whether the demand was unsustainable on the ground that the goods were exempt from sales tax or VAT.

Analysis: The exemption in entry 50 of Notification No. 20/2006-Cus applied only to goods specified in the First Schedule to the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957. Since the imported goods had been removed from that Schedule by the Finance Act, 2011, the exemption was no longer available during the relevant period. The objection based on Section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the cited interim order was not accepted as a basis to invalidate the levy or deny the demand.

Conclusion: The appellant was not eligible for the benefit of Notification No. 20/2006-Cus, and the demand of Special Additional Duty was rightly upheld. The appeals were dismissed.

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