Official Gazette publication made revised export duty on black pepper operative, defeating the refund claim

The withdrawal of exemption and revision of export duty on black pepper took effect on publication in the Official Gazette, making the revised duty applicable to the exports in question. In the absence of evidence that the Gazette was unavailable to the public before export, the filing of shipping bills on 7 and 9 May 1985 and payment of duty under the revised notifications supported their operative effect. The exporters were therefore not entitled to refund.

---

---

Issues: Whether the notifications withdrawing exemption from export duty on black pepper and revising the rate of duty became operative on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette, so as to make the revised duty applicable to the appellants' exports.

Analysis: The exemption granted earlier in respect of black pepper was rescinded by Notification No. 147/85-Cus. and the export duty was revised by Notification No. 148/85-Cus., both dated 7-5-1985. The material question was whether these notifications had taken effect on the date of publication in the Official Gazette. The record contained no evidence that the Gazette was made available to the public only after the exports had been completed. On the contrary, the appellants themselves filed shipping bills on 7-5-1985 and 9-5-1985 and paid duty in terms of the revised notifications, which supported the inference that the notifications were already available.

Conclusion: The revised export duty was held applicable to the exports in question, and the appellants were not entitled to refund.

---