Open General Licence import of totaliser upheld where goods were excluded from policy bans and qualified as actual-user industrial components.

Import of a totaliser used for registering cumulative petrol dispensed was treated as permissible under the Open General Licence because the goods were not covered by the excluded appendices of the import policy and were regarded as component goods for fitment with petrol dispensing pumps for actual user industrial use. On that basis, the import could not be objected to and confiscation had no legal basis. The impugned order was therefore set aside and the appeal allowed with consequential relief.

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Issues: Whether the import of the goods described as a totaliser was permissible under the Open General Licence and, if so, whether confiscation of the goods could be sustained.

Analysis: The goods were found to be a mechanism used for registering the cumulative quantity of petrol dispensed and were not included in the excluded appendices of the import policy. They were treated as component goods intended for fitment with petrol dispensing pumps and as goods required by an actual user for industrial use. On that basis, the import could not be objected to and there was no legal basis for confiscation.

Conclusion: The import was held to be eligible under the Open General Licence and the confiscation order was unsustainable, in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeal was allowed with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where imported goods are not covered by the excluded appendices of the import policy and satisfy the requirement of component goods for actual user industrial use, their import under Open General Licence cannot be denied and confiscation cannot be maintained.

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