Crude palm oil imports under tariff heading 1511 with acid value over 4% remain exempt under Notification 21/2002 CUS

SC affirmed HC's interpretation that imports of crude palm oil falling under tariff heading 1511 with acid value exceeding 4% remain entitled to duty exemption under Notification 21/2002 CUS (1.3.2003); the exemption cannot be restricted by reading additional words "between 4 and 10" into the notification. The court dismissed the civil appeals.

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1. Leave granted in SLP(C) No. 22328/2014. After hearing the parties and considering the relevant provisions of The Customs Tariff Act, 1975, the exemption notification and the relevant provisions of The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, the Court held that "the interpretation of the High Court is correct." On that basis the Court directed that the "civil appeals stand dismissed." Pending applications, if any, "shall stand disposed of." 2. Essential legal reasoning: the appeal turned on statutory construction and the interplay between the Customs Tariff Act and the exemption notification vis-à-vis regulatory standards under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. The Court affirmed the High Court's assessment that the challenged exemption/classification could not be read to override the statutory and regulatory framework governing food adulteration/standards, leading to dismissal of the civil appeals.

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