Extended period of limitation unavailable where contract details were disclosed and no suppression arose in customs assessment

Customs duty demand was found time-barred because the imported goods had been cleared after scrutiny of the exemption claim and final assessment was made on the basis of the documents filed, including the contract. As the contract and relevant particulars were already before the assessing authority, there was no legal duty to file the company's Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association with the Bills of Entry. Non-production of those additional documents could not amount to suppression or fraud, so the extended period of limitation was unavailable and the demand was set aside without examination of the merits.

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Issues: Whether the demand of customs duty was barred by limitation and whether the extended period could be invoked on the allegation of suppression of facts.

Analysis: The imported goods were cleared after scrutiny of the exemption claim and final assessment was made on the basis of the documents filed, including the contract. The contract and relevant particulars were before the assessing authority, and there was no legal obligation to file the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association of the contracting company along with the Bills of Entry. In these circumstances, non-production of those additional documents could not be treated as suppression or fraud so as to justify invocation of the extended period.

Conclusion: The demand was held to be barred by limitation and the extended period was not available to the Revenue; the demand was set aside without examining the merits.

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