Person chargeable with duty must be the importer or owner who...

Person chargeable with duty must be the importer or owner who imported and cleared the goods at the relevant time; the beneficial owner concept was not available when the impugned notice issued, so a subsequent purchaser or non-importing alleged mastermind could not be validly served with a recovery notice. Each Bill of Entry is a separate unit of assessment under the customs scheme and goods cleared under distinct Bills cannot be aggregated for reclassification or reassessment. Importing components for domestic assembly to obtain a lower tariff constitutes lawful customs duty planning and does not, by itself, justify imposing duty on a non-importing buyer. The impugned demand was set aside.

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