Exemption eligibility for imported goods must be tested against all contemporaneous documents, not invoice wording alone.

Where invoice wording is disputed, exemption eligibility should be determined by reading the invoice with contemporaneous and collateral documents for the entire import transaction, rather than relying on invoice description alone. The Tribunal noted that the purchase order, proforma invoice, packing list, supplier clarification and the five airways bills were relevant to ascertain whether the imports comprised five complete local exchanges or only parts of a telephone exchange. The matter was therefore remanded for de novo adjudication so that all five refund claims could be examined together under Notification No. 59/88-Cus.

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Issues: Whether the matter required remand for fresh adjudication on the claim that the imported goods comprised five complete local exchanges eligible for benefit under Notification No. 59/88-Cus., rather than mere parts of a telephone exchange.

Analysis: The invoice described the goods as one system, but the appellants asserted that this description was and that the import covered five separate local exchanges packed in 46 cases and received under five different airways bills. The record also showed that clarification from the supplier and other collateral documents such as the purchase order, proforma invoice and packing list were relevant to ascertain the true nature of the import. The authorities below had relied principally on the invoice description without examining all five consignments together and without considering the connected documents in a composite manner.

Conclusion: The matter required remand for de novo adjudication so that all five refund claims could be examined together with the relevant documents to determine whether the imports were complete local exchanges covered by Notification No. 59/88-Cus. The appeal was allowed by way of remand in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the description in an invoice is disputed, exemption eligibility must be determined after examining all contemporaneous and collateral documents relating to the entire import transaction, and not by relying on the invoice alone.

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