TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (10) TMI 673
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....Bill of Lading dated 23rd October 1989. A copy of the Bill of Entry for warehousing dated 23rd November 1989 is annexed to the petition. The first petitioner paid basic custom duty and auxiliary duty. In addition, additional duty under subsection (1) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (for short "the said Act of 1975") was assessed at Rs. 1,000/per KL and additional duty under subsection (3) of section 3 of the said Act of 1975 was assessed at Rs. 900/- per KL. The contention is that the petitioners are liable to pay additional duty leviable under subsection (1) of section 3. Reliance is placed by the petitioners on the notification no.75/84 C.E. dated 1st March 1984 under which exemption was granted to the goods specified in Column2 of the table annexed to the said notification from so much of the duty of excise leviable under the Central Excise and Salt Act,1944 (now Central Excise Act, 1944), at the rate specified in the said schedule, as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in Column3 of the said table, subject to the intended use or the conditions, if any, laid down in the corresponding entry in column4 of the table. ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
...., the additional duty to which the imported article shall be so liable shall be calculated at that percentage of the value of the imported article. Explanation. In this section, the expression "the excise duty for the time being leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India" means the excise duty for the time being in force which would be leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India, or, if a like article is not so produced or manufactured, which would be leviable on the class or description of articles to which the imported article belongs, and where such duty is leviable at different rates, the highest duty. (2) For the purpose of calculating under this section, the additional duty on any imported article, where such duty is leviable at any percentage of its value, the value of the imported article shall, notwithstanding anything contained in Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), be the aggregate of - (i) the value of the imported article determined under subsection (1) of the said Section 14 or the tariff value of such article fixed under subsection (2) of that section, as the case may be; and (ii) any duty of customs ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....of the Tariff Act are not charging sections. The charging section is Section 12 of the Customs Act under which, duty is leviable on the taxable event of export of goods from India or the import of goods into India, which is relatable to Entry No. 83 in List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution : "Duties of Customs including export duties". The taxable event is not the manufacture of the goods. Under Section 3(1) of the Tariff Act, "the excise duty for the time being leviable on a like article if produced or manufactured in India" is only the measure of the duty leviable on the imported article. Section 3(1) does not require that the imported article should be such as to be capable of being produced or manufactured in India. The assumption has to be that an article imported into India can be produced or manufactured in India and upon that basis, the duty has to be determined under Section 3(1). 8. Any doubt on this point is resolved by the Explanation to Section 3(1) of the Tariff Act. The Explanation furnishes a dictionary for the interpretation of Section 3(1) and provides a clue to its understanding. The Explanation provides in so many words that the expression "excis....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....subsection (1) of section 3 will not be payable on import of such article. 11. It is necessary to peruse objects and reasons of section 3 of the said Act of 1975. In paragraph4 of the decision in the case of Khandelwal Metals (supra), the Apex Court has dealt with objects and reasons. Paragraph4 of the said judgment reads thus: "4. ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... Counsel for the appellants rely strongly on the 'Objects and Reasons' of Section 3 of the Tariff Act in support of their contention that the said section is a charging section and imposes a countervailing duty. The Statement of Objects and Reasons says : "Clause 3 provides for the levy of additional duty on an imported article to counterbalance the excise duty leviable on the like article made indigenously, or on the indigenous raw materials, components or ingredients which go into the making of the like indigenous article. This provision corresponds to Section 2A of the existing Act, and is necessary to safeguard the interests of the manufacturers in India." This Statement lends prima facie support to the contention of the appellants but, in the absence of any ambiguity in the wording of Sect....