Customs exemption cannot be curtailed by import policy where the notification itself covers the imported goods.

A customs exemption granted under the statutory exemption power must be determined by the customs notification itself, and its scope cannot be curtailed by an import-control policy operating in a different field. The customs levy and exemption scheme is the special law for customs duty, while the Import and Export Control Act concerns import restrictions and does not govern duty exemption. On that basis, the departmental refusal to extend exemption to steel pots used in the manufacture of gems and jewellery for export was inconsistent with the notification, and the importer was entitled to the benefit of the customs exemption.

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Issues: Whether the exemption available under the customs notification could be denied on the basis of the Exim Policy, and whether the customs exemption notification alone governed entitlement to duty exemption for the imported steel pots.

Analysis: The charging and exemption scheme under the Customs Act governed levy and exemption of customs duty. The power to restrict imports under the Import and Export Control Act did not confer any power to levy or exempt customs duty. Where two statutes operate in different fields, the law specifically dealing with customs duty is the special law for that purpose. Once an exemption notification was issued under the customs exemption power, its scope could not be curtailed by the Exim Policy. The description in the notification covered steel pots used for manufacture of gems and jewellery for export, and the departmental refusal based on the import policy was inconsistent with that notification.

Conclusion: The denial of customs exemption was jurisdiction and the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the notification.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded because entitlement to customs exemption had to be determined solely under the customs exemption notification, and the import policy could not restrict that benefit.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a customs exemption is granted under the statutory exemption power, its scope cannot be reduced or controlled by an import-control policy operating in a different field.

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