Import licensing under amended trade policy applies prospectively, leaving pre-amendment consignments outside the new restriction.

Amended import policy on 28.02.2013 made second-hand digital multifunctional printers and copying machines licensable, so post-amendment imports were treated as violating the Foreign Trade Policy and attracted redemption fine and penalty. Imports made before 28.02.2013 remained governed by the earlier unrestricted position and were not subject to the amended licensing requirement. The Tribunal therefore applied the restriction only to post-amendment consignments and granted relief for pre-amendment imports. The discussion confirms that the legal effect of a policy amendment depends on the date of import, with the new restriction operating prospectively unless the text provides otherwise.

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Issues: Whether import of second-hand digital multifunctional printer and copying machines after the amendment to the Foreign Trade Policy on 28.02.2013 required a licence and, if so, whether redemption fine and penalty were sustainable; and whether imports made before that amendment were liable to such consequences.

Analysis: The imported goods were treated as second-hand capital goods. The governing policy position changed on 28.02.2013, when the Foreign Trade Policy was amended to require a licence for such imports. The Tribunal noted that the settled position, as affirmed by the High Court and followed by the Tribunal, was that imports made after the amendment fell within the restricted category and could not be cleared without the requisite licence. At the same time, imports made before 28.02.2013 were not hit by the amended restriction. On that basis, the Tribunal separated the appeals by date of import and applied the amended policy only to the post-amendment consignments.

Conclusion: The post-28.02.2013 imports were held to be in violation of the policy, and the redemption fine and penalty were sustained in those appeals. The two appeals relating to pre-28.02.2013 imports were allowed and the impugned orders were set aside.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were disposed of by sustaining the impugned orders in the post-amendment matters and granting relief only in the pre-amendment matters, resulting in partial relief to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing import policy is amended to make a class of goods licensable, imports made after the amendment are subject to the new restriction, while imports made before the amendment are governed by the earlier unrestricted position.

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