Customs drawback claim failed where evidentiary appreciation favoured contemporaneous examination over a later supplier certificate.

Entitlement to drawback under Customs Act, 1962 was treated as turning on evidentiary appreciation where the Tribunal preferred a contemporaneous departmental examination report over a later supplier's certificate and found the exported goods had not been satisfactorily identified as the same goods previously imported. That fact-based assessment did not raise a question of law under Section 130(1), so the reference application was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the application for reference under Section 130(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 disclosed any question of law, and whether the determination of entitlement to drawback on the facts involved only appreciation of evidence.

Analysis: The reference sought arose from the Tribunal's earlier finding under Section 74(1)(a) of the Customs Act, 1962 that the exported goods had not been satisfactorily identified as the very goods previously imported. The competing materials were an on-the-spot departmental examination report and a belated supplier's certificate issued long after the import and export. The Tribunal treated the matter as one of evidentiary appreciation, preferring the contemporaneous physical examination over the later certificate. Such assessment of evidence did not convert the dispute into a question of law for reference.

Conclusion: No question of law arose for reference, and the application was rejected.

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