2008 (10) TMI 373

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....the Foreign Trade Policy. By that notification, the respondent No. 2 has amended Schedule-I (Imports) of the ITC (HS) Classifications of Export and Import Items. It is common ground that as a result of this notification, now raw and polished marble can be imported from Sri Lanka under the India-Srilanka Free Trade Treaty Agreement, only through the Port of Kolkata. It is common ground that previously raw and polished marble could be imported from Sri Lanka at any Port in India under the treaty. It is also common ground that because of the notification issued by the authorities under Customs Tariff Act, items which are part of India-Srilankan Treaty the importers are not liable to pay any customs duty. 3. The petitioner challenges vali....

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....e notification issued under the Customs Tariff Act, there is no customs duty payable on marble imported from Sri Lanka. In the affidavit filed on behalf of the Respondents, the Respondents however have stated that they have issued notification for two purposes; (i) to make it uneconomical for the importers to import marble from Sri Lanka by neutralizing the duty-free benefit that they were getting, and (ii) the object is to prevent misuse of concession by importing marble which is not of Srilankan origin. The learned counsel submits that the first object stated in the notification is opposed to the law in as much as the object to defeat the concession granted by issuing notification under the Customs Tariff Act. The learned counsel further....

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....Customs Tariff Act to protect the domestic marble industry. So far as the first reason is concerned, in our opinion for this reason restricting import to only Kolkata Port will serve no purpose. If marble which is not of Srilankan origin cannot be imported under the Treaty free of payment of duty, then that can be prevented by the Respondents, at whatever Port the marble is imported. For that reason, it is not necessary to restrict the import to Kolkata Port only. It is to be noted here that it is not the case of the Respondents that the facility of checking the marble which arrives from Sri Lanka is available only at Kolkata Port and not at other Ports. In our opinion, therefore, this reason given is incapable of being accepted, because i....