Commissioner lacked jurisdiction to reject DEPB duty credit; Tribunal emphasizes roles of Customs & DGFT

The appeal was allowed as the Commissioner (Appeals) lacked jurisdiction to reject DEPB duty credit to an exporter with a valid DEPB license. The Tribunal held that Customs Authorities should communicate discrepancies to DGFT for resolution, emphasizing adherence to the respective authorities' roles. The impugned orders were set aside, allowing further action by both parties as permissible under the law.

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Issues: Jurisdiction of Customs Authorities in rejecting DEPB duty credit to an exporter with a DEPB license issued by DGFT.

In this case, the appellants applied for DEPB scrip entitlement for certain exports, and a DEPB license was obtained. However, upon verification by the DEPB Section, it was found that the claim made by the appellants was not in accordance with the DEPB rate specified in the General Notification. An order was issued denying the DEPB benefit, which was upheld by the CC (Appeal), leading to the current appeal.

The appellants contended before the CC (Appeals) that Customs Authorities lack jurisdiction to reject DEPB duty credit to an exporter with a valid DEPB license, suggesting that Customs should communicate discrepancies to DGFT for resolution. However, this argument was not considered by the CCE (Appeals).

During the proceedings, both the ld. DR and the appellants' Advocate argued about the jurisdiction of Customs Authorities in such matters, citing a Tribunal decision in a similar case. It was acknowledged by both parties that in this case, no order under the Customs Act, 1962 had been issued by the Dy. Commissioner.

The Tribunal, upon considering the provisions of Section 129A(1)(b) of the Customs Act, 1962, which allows appeals against orders passed by the Collector (Appeals) under Section 128A, noted that the Commissioner (Appeals) had issued an order in this case. However, it was concluded that the Commissioner (Appeals) did not have jurisdiction to decide the issues involved, which should be resolved by the DGFT. Citing precedent cases, the Tribunal set aside the impugned orders, allowing the department and the appellant to take further action as permissible under the law.

Ultimately, the appeal was allowed based on the lack of jurisdiction of the Commissioner (Appeals) to decide on matters that are within the purview of the DGFT, emphasizing the need for proper adherence to the respective authorities' roles and responsibilities in such cases.

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