Bona fide sample imports under the Import Policy can qualify for exemption where sample status is supported and burden of rebuttal fails.

Imported office furniture consisting of single pieces of several articles was treated as bona fide technical and trade samples under para 98 of Chapter V of the Handbook of Procedure 1992-97, because the record supported sample import and the goods were of modest CIF value. The policy allowed free import of bona fide samples within the prescribed value limit, subject to compliance with other law and without foreign exchange remittance. The Department did not establish that export orders or an intention to manufacture furniture were preconditions to the benefit, and the burden to disprove bona fide sample import was not discharged. Confiscation under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act was therefore not sustained.

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Issues: Whether the imported office furniture qualified as bona fide technical and trade samples eligible for import without a licence under para 98 of Chapter V of the Handbook of Procedure 1992-97, and whether confiscation under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 was justified.

Analysis: The goods consisted of one piece each of several articles of modest CIF value, and the record supported the view that they were imported as samples. The relevant policy permitted import of bona fide technical and trade samples free of charge within the prescribed value limit, subject to compliance with other law and without involvement of foreign exchange remittance. The Department did not establish that the goods were not bona fide samples or that the importer had to prove export orders or intended furniture manufacturing as a precondition to the benefit of the policy. The burden of displacing the claim of bona fide sample import was not discharged.

Conclusion: The import was held to be covered by the sample exemption, confiscation was not sustained, and the departmental appeal failed.

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