Amendment of free shipping bills supports All Industry Rate drawback when export evidence existed and no fraud was shown.

Where export documents and supporting evidence existed at the time of export, free shipping bills could be amended under Section 149 of the Customs Act to reflect entitlement to All Industry Rate drawback under Rule 12(1)(a). The objection that the goods were exported under free shipping bills, that no deliberate drawback claim was made at export, or that conversion was barred by a circular or three-month restriction was not accepted where the omission was clerical and no fraud or misdeclaration was recorded. The appellant was therefore entitled to amendment of the shipping bills and grant of All Industry Rate drawback.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to amendment of free shipping bills under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 and to claim All Industry Rate drawback under Rule 12(1)(a) of the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995, despite the goods having been exported under free shipping bills and despite the circular-based objection regarding conversion and the three-month period.

Analysis: The export goods were bulk cargo and the appellant was a regular exporter who had earlier claimed drawback at the All Industry Rate. The claimed omission arose from a clerical mistake in the export documents, and the request was for amendment of the shipping bills rather than conversion into drawback shipping bills. The applicable framework permitted amendment under Section 149 where the relevant documentary evidence existed at the time of export, and the Board's circular clarified that All Industry Rate drawback on goods exported under free shipping bills could be allowed without conversion. The rejection based on absence of deliberate claim at the time of export, alleged lack of evidence, RMS clearance, and the three-month restriction was found inconsistent with the governing legal position, particularly where no allegation of fraud or misdeclaration was recorded.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to amendment of the shipping bills and grant of All Industry Rate drawback.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the export documents and supporting evidence existed at the time of export, free shipping bills may be amended under Section 149 to permit All Industry Rate drawback under Rule 12(1)(a), and a procedural circular cannot be applied to defeat the substantive benefit in the absence of fraud or misdeclaration.

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