Additional legal ground on customs exemption notification may be raised on the existing record, without deciding merits

A purely legal ground arising from the existing record may be raised at the appellate stage where it concerns the correct customs exemption notification and requires no new factual inquiry. The additional plea was linked to the pending classification and duty dispute, and the authorities' failure to consider the specific contention did not bar its admission. Permission to raise the ground did not decide its merits, which remained for determination in the appeal. The additional ground was therefore allowed to be raised.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellants could be permitted to raise an additional ground at the appellate stage concerning the applicability of the correct customs exemption notification.

Analysis: The ground sought to be added was not a wholly new factual controversy but a legal plea arising from the record, namely that the refund claim had been made on the basis of the correct notification and that the authorities had failed to consider this specific contention. The matter was still connected with the merits of the pending classification and duty dispute, and the issue could be examined on the material already available. The governing approach was that a purely legal issue, capable of determination on the existing record, may be permitted to be raised even if not fully articulated earlier. Permission to raise the ground did not amount to acceptance of the ground on merits, which would be decided later in the appeal.

Conclusion: The additional ground was allowed to be raised.

---