Warehoused import duty is fixed by the out of charge order, barring later tariff notifications from increasing liability.

For warehoused imported goods, duty liability is determined by the date of the customs out of charge order for home consumption, because that order crystallises the duty position. Continued warehousing after the order is only a storage arrangement and does not reopen the applicable rate or tariff value. On the admitted facts, the out of charge orders were issued before the later tariff value notification took effect, so the notification could not be applied to levy differential duty on the consignments. The appellate court therefore set aside the Single Judge's judgment and allowed the writ appeal in favour of the importer.

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Issues: Whether the relevant date for determining import duty on warehoused goods was the date of the customs out of charge order for home consumption, and whether differential duty could be demanded on the basis of a later tariff value notification after such order had been issued.

Analysis: The duty payable on goods cleared from a warehouse depends on the date on which they are cleared for home consumption, namely the date of the customs out of charge order. Once the out of charge order is issued, subsequent continued warehousing is only an arrangement for storage and does not alter the duty position already crystallised. On the admitted dates, the out of charge orders for all the consignments were issued before the tariff value notification came into force, removing the ambiguity on which the earlier decision had proceeded.

Conclusion: The later notification could not be applied to demand differential duty on the warehoused consignments, and the challenge succeeded in favour of the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The judgment of the Single Judge was set aside and the writ appeal was allowed because the duty liability had to be determined with reference to the prior out of charge orders, not the later notification.

Ratio Decidendi: For warehoused imported goods, the duty payable is determined by the date of the customs out of charge order for home consumption, and a subsequent tariff value notification cannot retrospectively increase duty once that order has been issued.

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