Customs conversion of free shipping bills to drawback bills rejected after nine-year delay under section 149

CESTAT New Delhi dismissed the appeal where the appellant sought conversion of free shipping bills to drawback shipping bills after a nine-year delay (exports in 1998, request in 2007). The tribunal held that conversion changes the entire nature of shipping bills and is not merely an amendment under section 149 of Customs Act, 1962. The court ruled that amendments must be based on documents available at export time, notified rates cannot be applied retrospectively, and section 149 amendments are discretionary, not a right. The long lapsed period justified the Commissioner's rejection.

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Issues:
The judgment deals with the rejection of a request u/s 149 of the Customs Act, 1962 for conversion of free Shipping Bills into Drawback Shipping Bills by the Commissioner.

Issue 1: Conversion of Shipping Bills

Details:
- The appellant exported goods under 111 Shipping Bills and applied for a license under the QBAL scheme.
- The appellant sought to convert free shipping bills into drawback shipping bills, which was denied by the Commissioner.
- The appellant argued for conversion based on the absence of All-Industry Rates for the exported goods during the relevant period.
- The appellant's request was made several years after the export, and no brand rate had been applied for the goods.
- The Revenue contended that no rate of drawback was available for the goods exported against the shipping bills in question.
- The High Courts' decisions emphasized that conversion of shipping bills changes the entire nature of the documents and is not a mere amendment.
- The discretion to permit amendments after export is limited to documents available at the time of export.
- The appellant's request for retrospective application of later-notified rates was not accepted due to the prospective nature of All-Industry Rates.

Decision:
The Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld the impugned order, stating that the conversion request could not be accepted due to the nature of the Shipping Bills, absence of rates at the time of export, and the discretionary nature of amendments under section 149.

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