Refund of provisional customs duty follows where warehoused imported goods are destroyed before clearance.

Warehoused imported goods that were totally destroyed by fire before clearance did not justify retention of provisional customs duty. Because the secondhand synthetic clothes never reached the stage of import into India on the strength of the warehoused goods, there was no basis for further survey or continued levy after destruction. The petitioner was therefore entitled to a full refund of the provisional duty, and the refund was to be made without deduction of warehouse rent.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to refund of the provisional customs duty paid on warehoused imported goods that were subsequently destroyed by fire before clearance.

Analysis: The goods had been warehoused after import and provisional duty had been paid. The goods were secondhand synthetic clothes and were totally destroyed in the warehouse. In these circumstances, there was no basis for any further survey or retention of duty, because the petitioner had not been able to import any goods into India on the strength of the warehoused goods.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to a total refund of the provisional duty, and the respondents were directed to refund the amount without deduction of warehouse rent.

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