Incorporated import policy text is not changed by later amendment; Oxytetracycline HCL import and related penalties were unsustainable.

An incorporated import policy appendix was held to remain fixed as it stood when the Import Trade Control Order was made, so a later executive amendment to the source policy did not alter the incorporated text. On that basis, import of Oxytetracycline HCL under open general licence was permissible and the objection to importability failed. The declared value was also accepted as close to the comparable import relied on, and the comparator involved a different manufacturer, so enhancement of assessable value was not justified. Once importability was upheld, confiscation, redemption fine, and penalties, including the bank manager's penalty, could not survive. The impugned order was set aside and relief granted to the appellants.

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Issues: (i) Whether Oxytetracycline HCL could be imported under open general licence despite the subsequent amendment to the Import Policy. (ii) Whether the enhancement of assessable value, confiscation, redemption fine, and penalty, including the penalty on the bank manager, could be sustained.

Issue (i): Whether Oxytetracycline HCL could be imported under open general licence despite the subsequent amendment to the Import Policy.

Analysis: The Import Trade Control Order No. 1 of 1982, issued under Section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947, incorporated Appendix 4 of the Import Policy as it stood on the date of the order. The later Public Notice No. 21 ITC(PN)/82 inserted a further reference in paragraph 218(4) of the Policy, but an incorporated provision forms part of the incorporating order itself and is not altered by a later executive amendment to the source document.

Conclusion: The import of Oxytetracycline HCL under open general licence was permissible and the objection to importability failed.

Issue (ii): Whether the enhancement of assessable value, confiscation, redemption fine, and penalty, including the penalty on the bank manager, could be sustained.

Analysis: The declared price and the relied-upon comparative price were close, and the comparable import was from a different manufacturer. On that material, the value loading was not justified. Once the import itself was held to be permissible under open general licence, the confiscation and consequential penalties could not survive, including the penalty imposed on the bank manager.

Conclusion: The enhancement of value, confiscation, redemption fine, and penalties were not sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeals succeeded, with full relief to the appellants.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a policy appendix is incorporated by reference into a statutory order, a later amendment to the source policy does not alter the incorporated text for the purposes of the order.

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