Food-grade classification of imported STPP defeated anti-dumping duty, confiscation and penalties for lack of conclusive proof.

Imported STPP was treated as food grade because the Revenue failed to prove that the goods fell outside the exclusion for food-grade material. The tribunal noted that an FSSAI-recognised laboratory tested the goods, the authorised FSSAI officer granted clearance, and the later laboratory clarification confirmed that the analysis was from a food-safety angle. Other laboratory material did not identify any specific disqualifying parameter, and the evidence did not conclusively establish industrial-grade classification. As the levy of anti-dumping duty and the allied confiscation and penalties depended on that classification, the burden of proof remained on the Revenue and was not discharged.

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Issues: Whether imported STPP was food grade or otherwise and, consequently, whether anti-dumping duty, confiscation and penalties were sustainable.

Analysis: The anti-dumping regime applied only to STPP other than food grade, so the Revenue had to prove that the imports fell outside the excluded category. The record showed that the goods were tested by an FSSAI-recognised laboratory, the authorised FSSAI officer granted clearance, and the laboratory's later clarification stated that the analysis was from a food-safety angle. Two other laboratories declined testing for want of facilities, while the Customs-reliance laboratory gave an opinion that the parameters for food grade and industrial grade overlapped and did not identify any specific toxic or disqualifying parameter. The evidence therefore did not establish with certainty that the goods were industrial grade or not food grade. In a matter affecting chargeability to duty and penal consequences, the burden lay on the Revenue, and that burden was not discharged by cogent and legally reliable evidence.

Conclusion: The imported goods were held to be food grade, and the demand of anti-dumping duty, confiscation and penalties were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the levy depends on a disputed product classification and the material on record does not conclusively show that the goods fall within the dutiable description, the burden on the Revenue is not discharged and the assessee is entitled to relief.

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