Factual appreciation, not a question of law, barred reference to the High Court under Customs Act relief provisions.

No referable question of law arose from the Tribunal's decision on relief under Section 22(1)(b) of the Customs Act, 1962, because the controversy was confined to factual appreciation. The reference application challenged only the finding that revaluation had not been sought at the assessment stage and that the goods were cleared without revaluation. The record also showed that the applicant had not disputed the merits before the lower authorities and had instead sought remand for reconsideration of the value of damaged goods. On that basis, the application for reference to the High Court was rejected.

---

---

Issues: Whether any question of law arose from the reference application seeking reference of the Tribunal's order to the High Court, in the context of relief under Section 22(1)(b) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The reference application challenged only the Tribunal's factual conclusion that revaluation had not been sought at the stage of assessment and that the goods had been cleared without getting them revalued. The matter was treated as turning on appreciation of facts, and the record showed that the applicant had not contested the merits before the lower authorities, but had sought remand for reconsideration of the value of damaged goods. On that basis, no referable question of law was found to arise.

Conclusion: The application for reference to the High Court was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: A reference to the High Court is not maintainable where the controversy is confined to factual appreciation and no question of law arises from the Tribunal's decision.

---