Rejection of declared transaction value was challenged on the...

Rejection of declared transaction value was challenged on the ground that reassessment relied on contemporaneous import prices without adequate disclosure or opportunity to the importer; CESTAT held that Rule 12 requires written intimation of grounds and a reasonable hearing before discarding transaction value. The authority's use of NIDB contemporaneous prices was not transparently explained as comparable to the imported goods and was not made available pre-hearing, depriving the importer of a chance to rebut. Result: reassessment set aside for failure to give cogent reasons and opportunity consistent with the Valuation Rules.

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