Court emphasizes tax certainty, denies long adjournment, grants 4 weeks for reply affidavit.

The Court refused to grant a long adjournment, emphasizing the importance of tax certainty for businesses. It noted the burden on trade due to the Social Welfare Surcharge when basic duty is exempt and granted the Respondents 4 weeks to file an affidavit in reply. The Court adjourned the Petitions for further proceedings.

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Issues:
Challenge to the action of Custom Authorities in debiting Social Welfare Surcharge to duty credit scrip issued under MEIS.

Analysis:
The Petitioner challenged the Custom Authorities' action of debiting the Social Welfare Surcharge to the duty credit scrip issued under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS). The Petitioner argued that since the customs duty on imported goods is exempt under Notification No.24/2015-Cus dated 8 April 2015, against duty credit scrips issued under MEIS, there should be no levy of surcharge due to the nil rate of customs duty. The Petitioner relied on a previous decision of the Court in a similar context and made a representation to the Commissioner of Customs regarding this issue.

On a previous occasion, the Court adjourned the Petitions to allow the Principal Commissioner of Customs to consider the Petitioner's submissions in light of the Court's decision and take an appropriate view. However, the Respondent mentioned that the Commissioner of Customs had made a representation to the Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) on the issue and was awaiting further information to file an affidavit in response to the challenge in the Petition. The Respondent sought a 12-week adjournment, which was declined by the Court.

The Court refused to grant a long adjournment, noting that the trade was already burdened with the Social Welfare Surcharge in cases where the basic duty is exempt. The Court emphasized the importance of certainty of taxes payable for businesses to operate smoothly. Consequently, the Court granted the Respondents 4 weeks to file an affidavit in reply, if any, and adjourned the Petitions to a later date for further proceedings.

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