Scope of remand in customs appeals must stay limited to grounds raised; wider directions beyond the appeal were set aside.

An appellate authority must confine a remand to the specific grounds raised in the departmental appeal and cannot travel suo motu beyond that controversy. Here, the departmental appeal concerned only whether royalty was includible in assessable value under the Customs Valuation Rules, while the appellate order also dealt with professional and consultancy charges and issued broader directions outside the appeal. Those wider directions were set aside, and the remand and de novo proceedings were restricted to the grounds actually taken in the departmental appeal. The question of royalty addability remained for determination in the de novo proceedings.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner (Appeals) could travel beyond the grounds raised in the departmental appeal and direct remand on issues not covered by those grounds.

Analysis: The departmental appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) was confined to the question of non-addition of royalty in the assessable value under Rule 10(1)(c) and Rule 10(1)(e) of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007. The impugned order, however, also dealt with other matters such as professional and consultancy charges and further directions beyond the scope of the appeal. A remand order must remain confined to the controversy actually raised in the appeal, and issues not forming part of the appeal cannot be taken up and decided suo motu.

Conclusion: The remand and de novo proceedings were modified so as to be restricted only to the grounds raised in the departmental appeal; the broader directions were set aside.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded only to the extent of narrowing the remand, while the question of royalty addability was left to be decided in the de novo proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate authority cannot expand the remand beyond the specific grounds taken in the appeal and must confine its directions to the issues actually raised for adjudication.

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