AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2001 (8) TMI 362
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....ion. Accordingly, the amended application has been submitted on 17th May, 2001. As per the revised application, the total duty demanded vide six Duty Demand Notices works out to Rs. 3,81,85,558/-. Out of this amount, the Applicant is admitting duty liability of Rs. 1,27,67,809/- taking into consideration of two factors (i) part-fulfilment of export obligation i.e. to the extent of 28-30 per cent (ii) that the CVD portion of the duty liability be allowed to be adjusted as Modvat since the Applicant is entitled to avail the Modvat credit on the capital goods. In other words. It is contended that the Applicant paid the CVD at the time of import, then he would have been allowed to avail the Modvat credit against CVD so paid. Therefore, it was submitted that Modvat credit on capital goods need be allowed. 2.2 The ld. Advocate pleaded for admitting his case and also for adjustment of the admitted duty liability of Rs. 1,27,67,809/- against the Bank Guarantee of Rs. 1,42,90,000/- already encashed by the Revenue. 3. The Revenue was represented by Shri Venugopalachar S.V., Appraising Officer, Office of the Commissioner of Customs (Export Promotion), Mumbai. 3.2 The R....
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.... to be imported. There was stipulation of time limit for fulfilment of export obligation (for details please refer to the said licence). 5.2 The applicant imported the said capital goods by filing a Bill of Entry. The value of the capital goods imported were Rs. 14,08,84,507/- and the applicant had paid Customs duty of Rs. 2,11,32,676/-. The applicant has also indicated in each of the Bill of Entry that they are availing the provisions of Notification No. 160/92-Cus., dated 20-4-1992. The said notification, inter alia, provides for payment of duty at the rate of 15% instead of normal duty rate. Each of the Bills of Entry was duly assessed and the applicant paid the assessed duty thereon. The aforesaid notification has also been referred to in each of the Bills of Entry by the proper officer, while assessing those bills of entries. 5.3 The applicant had filed the Application before the Commission in the form SC (C)-1 on 9-2-2001. The case was heard on 4th April, 2001 and the Applicant was allowed to file a revised application and re-submit the same within 30 days. 5.4 Accordingly, the Applicant has revised his application and submitted the same on 28th May, 2....
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....on 127B of the Customs Act, 1962 and therefore need to be rejected under Section 127C ibid. 7. The aforesaid submissions of the Revenue do not take into consideration the following aspects : 1. Objects in setting up of Settlement Commission. 2. Interpretation of provisions under Section 127B of the Customs Act, 1962. 3. Judicial pronouncements already available in relation to laws of Settlement Commission in the Income-tax Act as amended from time to time as the laws of settlement for both are pari materia. 4. Ratio of case laws on levy, collection and assessment of duty of Customs as decided by Tribunal, Hon'ble Supreme Court etc. from time to time. 8. All these aspects are being discussed below : 8.2 The Hon'ble Finance Minister in his budget speech in the year 1992 had indicated about setting up of Settlement Commission for speedy resolution of disputes between the tax payer and revenue. When the Finance Bill was moved in 1998, the Hon'ble Finance Minister had made a reference and reiterated this aspec....
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....eject it (a) on the basis of the material contained in the report of the Commissioner and (b) having regard to the nature and circumstances of the case or the complexity of the investigation involved therein. What do these words mean? They are words of general import. What did the Parliament mean thereby? For ascertaining their meaning and purport, one has to turn to the purposes underlying the enactment as a whole. It is neither possible nor advisable to seek to lay down exhaustively the several situations in which the Commission would decide to allow the application to be proceeded with or in which the application has to be rejected. A case may be a complex one, it may involve prolonged or cumbersome investigation. Another situation may be where having regard to the nature of the case and other circumstances, the Commission may feel, in the interest of Revenue and in the interest of justice, that it is better to give a quietus to the case once for all instead of allowing it to be fought through the usual channels. The decision has to be taken by the Commission having regard to all the facts and circumstances before it, in the light of the object, purpose and scheme of the enactme....
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.... The Applicant should have filed a Bill of Entry, shipping bill and also have received a show cause notice. (g) The additional amount of duty accepted as payable is more than Rs. 2 lakhs. (h) The case should not be pending in Tribunal or a Court of law. (i) The case should not be a one in which provisions of Section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962 has been invoked or is an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. (j) Where any dutiable goods, books of accounts and other documents or any sale proceeds of the goods have been seized under Section 110 ibid, the applicant can approach the Settlement Commission only after expiry of 180 days if no show cause notice has been received by him within that period. 9.5 Section 245C of the Income-tax Act has the following stipulation relating the filing of an application : 1. An assessee can file an application. 2. The application shall be in the prescribed format. 3. The appli....
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....nal assessment. The chargeable section under the Customs Act is Section 12 which stipulates that "except as otherwise provided under this Act or any other law for the time being in force, duties of customs shall be levied at such rates as may be specified in the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) or any other law for the time being in force on goods imported into or exported from India." 9.8 From the legal provisions of Section 127B of the Customs Act and Section 245C of the Income-tax Act, it is seen that terms used are "duty liability not disclosed before proper officer" and "duty liability not disclosed before the assessing officer", "the additional amount of duty payable", and "the additional amount of income tax payable". What are the exact scope of these terms? What nexus, these terms have to "levy, assessment and collection of duty" is a case before the Settlement Commission. These terms in main clause have to be read along with proviso which refers to filing of bill of entry and receipt of show cause notice in relation to customs and 'filing of returns' in relation to Income Tax. 9.9 Thus the assessee is required to state details of imports and attendant ....
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....o file a bill of entry for home consumption straightaway (in which case he has to pay the duty determined with reference to that date) or to file a bill of entry for warehousing. In the latter case, the goods are merely warehoused. The import duty will be levied at the rate and on the basis of the valuation determined in accordance with the provisions prevailing on the date of clearance from the warehouse for which purpose the importer has to file a fresh bill of entry for home consumption. In other words, it is the date of filing the bill of entry for home consumption which determines the rate of duty in clauses (a) and (b) of Section 15. Inasmuch as the matter is left to the option of the importer and also because a uniform principle is adopted by the Act, as explained above, we see no room for any legitimate grievance of discrimination."   (emphasis supplied). 9.12 On the issue of relevant date for payment, the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India v. Apar India Ltd. [1999 (112) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.)] is relevant. In the said case the Supreme Court has examined various provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and has concluded that duty has t....
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....SC(C)-1 filed by the applicant is relevant in this regard. A perusal of different columns make the intention of legislature clear as to the nature of disclosure contemplated. The Court has examined the relevance and importance attached to the format. In the case of Pali Devi & Others v. Chairman, Managing Committee and Another [1996 (3) SCC 296] the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed as below : "thus on account of the preponderance of authority, Sections 20(2) and 2(i) had to be read along with the Rules and Form VI to lean in favour of the view that both past and present employees were entitled to move in the matter. Such would be a purposive approach, which would carry out the necessary intendment of the statute, for which the Rules and the Form lend a hand to carry out the objectives of the Act. The language employed therein even though executive voiced, is more often than not, demonstrative of the legislative purpose. So viewed, the intendment of the statute is furthered if an ex-employee too is held entitled to seek relief under Section 20(2) of the Act." 10.4 In the instant case the applicant has filed the SC (C)-1 format. The statutory form prescribed under the Ac....