CESTAT allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned order,...

CESTAT allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned order, holding that the declared transaction value of the imported second-hand machinery must be accepted for customs assessment. The Tribunal found no evidence of related-party influence, impropriety or undisclosed payments affecting transaction value under Section 14, Customs Act, 1962, and no proviso grounds in Rule 3(2), CVR 2007 to reject the invoice. The load-port Chartered Engineer's certificate was held reliable; the local CE report was deficient for failing to identify which valuation factors were applied. Absent justifiable basis to discard the load-port opinion, there was no misdeclaration and the reassessment/enhancement was unwarranted. Appeal allowed.

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