Export obligation under advance licence can be verified from documents beyond EODC, with remand for fresh examination.

Fulfilment of export obligation under the advance licence exemption notification was not confined to proof by an Export Obligation Discharge Certificate, because the notification did not state that EODC alone was the exclusive evidence of compliance. Where the importer claimed exports and produced shipping bills, Customs could verify fulfilment from other export-related documents even if the advance licence number was not mentioned in those papers and the EODC had not been obtained. The matter was remanded to the original adjudicating authority to examine the export documents and decide whether the export obligation had in fact been discharged.

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Issues: Whether fulfilment of export obligation under the advance licence exemption notification could be established only through the Export Obligation Discharge Certificate from the DGFT, and whether the matter required remand for verification of export documents.

Analysis: The appellant had imported goods under Notification No. 93/2004-Cus dated 10.9.2004 subject to fulfilment of export obligation. The record showed that the appellant claimed to have made exports and produced shipping bills, though the advance licence number had not been mentioned in the export documents and the EODC had not been obtained. The notification required fulfilment of export obligation, but it did not stipulate that such fulfilment could be proved only by an EODC. The Customs authorities were therefore entitled to verify compliance on the basis of other export-related documents as well.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the original adjudicating authority to verify the export documents and determine whether the export obligation had been fulfilled.

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