Customs duty liability follows a duly published enhancement notification already in force before filing of bills of entry.

Customs duty was held to be chargeable at the enhanced rate where the notification increasing duty had already been published in the Gazette and made available for sale before the bills of entry were filed. The relevant date for determining liability was the filing of the bills of entry, not the importers' lack of personal knowledge of the notification. The Court also followed an earlier Division Bench view on the same question, confirming that the enhanced duty notification governed the imports.

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Issues: Whether the rate of customs duty was to be determined with reference to the notification enhancing duty issued before the bills of entry were filed, and whether the importers were entitled to relief on the ground that the notification was not known to them.

Analysis: The notification enhancing the duty from 10% to 35% was shown to have been published in the Gazette and made available for sale before the bills of entry were filed. Once the notification was before the relevant date of filing, the importers became liable to duty at the enhanced rate. The Court also followed the earlier Division Bench view on the same question.

Conclusion: The enhanced duty notification governed the imports, and the petitioners were not entitled to relief.

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