Customs exemption notification disputes affecting duty or valuation belong before the Supreme Court, not the High Court.

A dispute over whether imported goods fall within a customs exemption notification, where the issue affects the rate of duty or valuation, is treated as falling within the statutory appellate route to the Supreme Court rather than the High Court. The note states that such exemption-related questions are excluded from the High Court's jurisdiction under the Customs Act, and that the objection based on low monetary value does not change the forum once the controversy concerns the notification's effect on duty or valuation. The appeal was therefore held not maintainable before the High Court.

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Issues: Whether an appeal challenging the applicability of a customs exemption notification in relation to imported goods is maintainable before the High Court, or whether such a dispute lies only before the Supreme Court under the Customs Act.

Analysis: The dispute was centred on whether the imported goods were covered by the exemption notification, which was treated as a question connected with the rate of duty and the valuation of goods for customs purposes. In such matters, the statutory scheme places the appellate route before the Supreme Court and not the High Court. The objection based on the low monetary value did not alter the jurisdictional position once the controversy was found to concern an exemption notification of this nature.

Conclusion: The appeal was held to be not maintainable before the High Court and was required to be filed only before the Supreme Court.

Ratio Decidendi: A dispute as to whether imported goods are covered by a customs exemption notification, when it bears on the rate of duty or valuation, falls within the statutory appellate channel to the Supreme Court and is excluded from the High Court's jurisdiction under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962.

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