Imported goods must be assessed as presented; populated PCBs qualified for customs exemption despite later assembly potential.

Populated printed circuit boards imported in assembled form were held eligible for the customs concession under Notification No. 21/2002-Cus. because exemption attaches to the goods as assessed at import, not to a later-completed machine. The mere possibility that the populated PCBs could subsequently be combined with mechanical parts to form an echo canceller assembly did not justify denial of the benefit, since the imported goods themselves answered the notification description. The assessee therefore succeeded, and the claimed exemption was allowed with consequential relief.

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Issues: Whether populated printed circuit boards imported as such were eligible for the benefit of Notification No. 21/2002-Cus. notwithstanding that they could later be assembled with mechanical parts into a complete equipment.

Analysis: The imported goods for which exemption was claimed were found to be populated PCBs presented in that form at the time of assessment. The entitlement to the concessional customs duty under the notification attached to the goods as imported, and not to a later assembled equipment. The possibility of combining the populated PCBs with mechanical parts to make a complete echo canceller assembly did not justify denial of the notification benefit, since the assessable goods themselves answered the description in the notification.

Conclusion: The populated PCBs were eligible for the concessional benefit under the notification, and denial of exemption was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the assessee obtained the claimed customs notification benefit with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Imported goods are to be assessed in the form in which they are presented, and a concessional exemption cannot be denied merely because they may later be assembled with other parts into a complete machine.

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