2023 (10) TMI 1518 - AT - Customs

Customs Appeals Invalidated: Procedural Errors Expose Systemic Flaws in Assessment Order Processing Under Customs Act

CESTAT Mumbai addressed multiple customs appeal applications challenging assessment orders. The Tribunal found procedural irregularities in the original ... Challenge to the assessment of one bill of entry - HELD THAT:- The first appellate authority had disposed off challenge only to the assessment in one of the bills of entry with the reasoning that each assessment must be challenged separately as prescribed in Customs Act, 1962. It is on record that there is only one order of assessment and it appears that the original authority had merely appended all decisions to that one order of assessment. That is clearly not in accord with the mandate of section 17(5) of Customs Act, 1962. As per Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982, each assessment should be challenged separately. At the same time, it is also prescribed that each form of appeal should append the assessment under challenge. In the absence of separate assessment for each import, it was not possible to comply with the requirement therein. It was incumbent upon the first appellate authority to ensure that the original authority comply with the law to enable proper challenge. This, he had failed in doing. The impugned order could have remanded all the appeals for compliance with the mandate of law. As only the lone order of assessment was found to merit remand, there was no reason not to remand back the others also - Appeal allowed by way of remand. The Appellate Tribunal, CESTAT Mumbai, presided over by Hon'ble Mr. C J Mathew and Hon'ble Mr. Ajay Sharma, addressed 194 applications for 'out-of-turn' disposal of appeals related to order-in-appeal no. MUM-CUSTM-AMP-APP-762/2022-23. The initial appeal involved a challenge to the assessment of one bill of entry, while the other 193 bills were not addressed by the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), Mumbai - III.The appellant's counsel argued that subsequent assessments, similar to the initial one under section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962, were completed without the required 'speaking order.' A consolidated appeal was filed, but the first appellate authority only addressed one assessment, citing the need for separate challenges for each assessment as per the Customs Act, 1962.The Tribunal found that the original authority had appended decisions to one order, contrary to section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962, and that the first appellate authority failed to ensure compliance with the law. The Tribunal noted that each assessment should be separately challenged, as per the Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982, but this was not feasible due to the lack of separate assessments.The Tribunal concluded that the impugned order should have remanded all appeals for compliance with legal mandates. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the impugned order and remanded the appeals back to the original authority for appropriate orders in accordance with the law and settled judicial decisions.