Extended limitation period cannot be invoked where there is no...

Extended limitation period cannot be invoked where there is no proof of suppression or malafide: contemporaneous documentary records and communications from SEZ/FTWZ authorities negated concealment and showed accepted administrative practice, so absence of an undertaking did not amount to deliberate misdeclaration. Consequently, demands for the disputed periods were time barred and the adjudication invoking extended limitation set aside. Coordinate Tribunal precedents addressing SAD exemption on SEZ/FTWZ to DTA transfers - with higher court leave to appeal or SLPs dismissed - compelled the same result, so the appeals were allowed on limitation grounds without adjudicating substantive entitlement to Special Additional Duty exemption.

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