TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2015 (2) TMI 782
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....n fine of Rs. 4,23,23,896/- was imposed under Section 125 of Customs Act, 1962. 2. The facts, briefly stated are as under. The appellants had imported waste paper at concessional rate of duty under Notification No. 21/2002-CUS dated 01/3/2002 as amended. The condition of the exemption was that the waste paper was to be used in the manufacture of the paper/paperboards/newsprint. 3. The appellants had pleaded that the impugned goods were destroyed in fire in their factory and therefore the said goods could not be used for the intended purpose and as the circumstances were beyond their control, they should not be visited with the impugned liability. The adjudicating authority did not accept t....
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....p;2010 (254) E.L.T. 63 (Mad.) (vi) Union of India Vs. Customs & Excise Settlement Commission Kolkata -2010 (254) ELT 647 (Bom.) 4.(1) The Ld. AR on the other hand contended that there is no equity in taxation laws and as the condition of the notification has clearly not been fulfilled in as much as the impugned goods have not been used for the intended purpose, the condition of exemption is not satisfied and hence the impugned duty and fine are clearly chargeable. He cited the following judgments to stress the proposition that exemption notifications are to be construed strictly and that there is no time limit for demanding duty on goods cleared under a bond. ....
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....such quantity of the said goods as is not proved to have been so used, an amount equal to the difference between the duty leviable on such quantity but for the exemption under this notification and that already paid at the time of importation: and (b) the importer produces to the said Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner as the case may be, within six months or such extended period, as that Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner may allow, a certificate issued by the Deputy Commissioner of central Excise or the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, in whose jurisdiction the said good have been used in such unit, that the said goods have bee....
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....that bond and therefore the time limitation of section 28 of Customs Act is not applicable. In the present case also the condition of the notification is being strictly construed. The only point to be decided in the present case is whether when the fulfillment of the condition of the exemption notification becomes an impossibility because of circumstances beyond the importers control, the duty can be demanded. We find that in the case of Vamsahara Paper Mills Ltd. Vs. CCE, Visakhapatnam (supra), in similar, nay, identical circumstances, CESTAT held that when goods intended for use under relevant notification were destroyed in fire accident, demand was not sustainable. &nb....