TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (11) TMI 568
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.... assessment to appraise the value of the goods and also to verify, if all the times are waste/scrap. The imported used tyres were examined by the Docks Officers in the presence of the Chartered Engineers M/s. SGS India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai. The Chartered Engineer vide their Report dated 09.06.2011 stated that the useful life of the tyre is 12 years and average residual life of 7 years subject to proper operation and maintenance. On visual examination, it appears that the tyres are not scrap items and waste. As there was delay in clearance of the goods, the importers filed writ petition No. 15586/2011 before the Hon'ble High Court of Madras, for clearance of the goods. The Hon'ble High Court by order dated 06.07.2011, directed the importers to clear the goods, after following certain directions. Thereafter, the used tyres were reexamined by the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) in the presence of the importers. TNPCB by their report dated 25.07.2011, stated that import of old tyres should be carried out only after obtaining the permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, GOI and as per provisions of Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary) Rules, 20....
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....y in favour of the importer in so far as it has certified the goods were not new ones and only used ones and falls under waste pneumatic tyres for direct reuse. ii) The goods were not new ones and only used ones and falls under waste pneumatic tyres for direct reuse. It is contradictory in so far as waste tyres cannot be reused directly. iii) The used tyres would be classifiable under CTH 40122020 and waste pneumatic tyres would be classifiable CTH under 40040000. Revenue in their counter before the Hon'ble High Court had not disputed the classification of the goods. iv) The goods are classifiable under 40122090, the revenue cannot treat these goods as waste. v) The issue had already been decided by the Tribunal in the case of M/s. Universal Trading Company and others Vs. CC, Kandla, by Final Order Nos. A/11340- 11345/WZB/AHD/2013 dated 22.10.2013. 7. The Ld. Advocate, Shri P. Vijay appearing on behalf of M/s. Sri & Co. and M/s. Colombo Agencies, reiterates the submissions of the Ld. Advocate appearing on behalf of M/s. Al-Noor Exports and Imports Agency. He further submits as under:- i) M/s. SGS India Pvt. Ltd, Che....
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....EC by instruction dated 12.7.2013, clarified that BIS certificate is applicable only to 'newly manufactured tyres and tubes and not on old and used tyres and applicable only to domestic manufacturers and tyre dealers'. It is seen from the decision of the Tribunal, in the case of Universal Trading Company and others (supra) that the department released such goods more than one lakh tyres in similar condition all over the country, in the ports of Ahmedabad, Delhi and even today they are releasing the goods. viii) The decision of the Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of CC Vs. G.S. Govindan 2013 (287) ELT 161 (Mad.), was challenged its decision before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and by order dated 26.04.2013, the Hon'ble Supreme Court admitted their appeal. 8. The Ld. AR on behalf of the Revenue submits as under:- i) The submission of the importers in respect of classification of the goods is not relevant in the present case. The dispute relates to as to whether the imported used tyres are waste in nature or not. ii) TNPCB by their report dated 25.07.2011, clearly stated that import of waste tyres should be carried out....
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....m the TNPCB report that the goods fall under Waste Pneumatic Tyres for direct reuse. The adjudicating authority observed that these imported goods are likely to cause danger to health and environment. The adjudicating authority proceeded on the basis of TNPCB report stating that these goods are waste pneumatic tyres and therefore, the goods were imported in violation of the provisions of Hazardous waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary) Rules, 2008. But, the adjudicating authority had not considered the report as a whole that the imported pneumatic tyres are also for direct reuse. The Commissioner (Appeals) had discussed the classification of the goods in detail. In our considered view, it is not necessary to go into the classification of the goods under the Customs Tariff Act, in so far as it is to be determined as to whether the imported goods are in the nature of waste. 10. Normally, tyres discarded from the vehicles can be divided under two categories, as under:- a) Used tyres which can be put into direct reuse as such. b) Waste tyres which have suffered permanent damage to their structure and are not usable for retreading or re-use. These waste tyres can ....
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....ed tyres, where the impugned tyres can be used for motor vehicles as such or after retreading or are merely usable by the animal driven vehicles. The Tribunal in that case observed as under:- 5.6 Appellants have relied upon the judgments of Shree Ganesh International vs. CCE Jaipur (Supra), Vaibhav Textiles vs Commr of Central Excise & Customs, Kolkatta (Supra) and Kiriti Sales Corpn. Vs. Commissioner of Customs, Faridabad (Supra) holding that declaration made in the Bills of Entry based on the documents received by the importers cannot be held to be a case of mis-declaration under Sec 111 of the Customs Act 1962. Similarly, it was held by CESTAT in case of Gauri enterprises vs. Commissioner of Customs, Pune (Supra) and Care International vs. Commissioner of Customs (Madras) (Supra) that confiscation is not proper when similar goods were earlier released on redemption fine. However, confiscation Under Sec. 111 (d) of the Customs Act, 1962 is justified for the reason that old and used tyres are restricted items under the Import Policy for which a valid import license was required and accordin....