TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (8) TMI 704
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....t it imported four consignments of Gold Dore Bars and in relation to these four consignments filed four Bills of Entry with relevant supporting documents through ICEGATE [3] portal on 05.07.2019. However, only one Bill of Entry number was generated corresponding to Job Code No. 626, but numbers for the three Bills of Entry with respect to Job Code Nos. 629, 630 and 631 were not generated. 4. The respondent, therefore, wrote a letter dated 08.07.2019 to the Commissioner of Customs (Import) for immediate processing of the three pending Bills of Entry and for release of the three consignments. This letter was followed by another letter dated 11.07.2019. The respondent also informed the Commissioner that it had received a communication from ICEGATE service manager that the three Bills of Entry could not be processed due to a technical glitch in their system and that the ICEGATE had requested the respondent to re-file the same. The respondent, therefore, pointed out that when there was a fault at the end of ICEGATE, it should not be asked to re- file the Bills of Entry. Subsequently, the respondent also received a response from the ICEGATE portal on 12.07.2019 stating that due ....
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....enerated only for one consignment at Serial No. 1 above, the rest of the Bills of Entry were not generated on 05.07.2019 and were kept pending. The Importer wrote a letter date 08.07.2019 to the Commissioner of Customs (Imports) requesting for immediate release of the said 3 consignments. The Importer on an enquiry from ICEGATE understood that the Bills of Entry were not generated on 05.07.2019 due to some technical error and addressed another letter dated 11.07.2019 to the Commissioner (Imports) that the documents and Bills of Entry presented on 05.07.2019, being complete in all respects, ought to be generated, assessed and the consignments ought to be released on an immediate basis. 2.2 The Importer received an email on 12.07.2019 from ICEGATE portal stating that the Bills of Entry were not processed due to Budget activity on 05.07.2019 and the Importer was required to re-file the said Bills of Entry again. On 15.07.2019, the Importer addressed a letter before the Commissioner of Customs (Imports) stating that once admittedly the entire documentation filed on 05.07.20I9 was complete and the non-processing of the Bills of Entry was due to technical error at the end ....
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.... at the time of filing Bills of Entry on 05.07.2019; and (vi) In support of his submissions, learned Authorized Representative placed reliance upon the following decision: (i) Union of India vs. G.S. Chatha Rice Mills [2020 (374) E.L.T. 289 (S.C.)]. 9. Shri Kishore Kunal, learned Counsel appearing for the respondent made the following submissions:- (i) A bare perusal of the Appeal discloses that there is no dispute to the factual position that the four Bills of Entry with relevant documents were presented in the ICEGATE portal on 05.07.2019 and job numbers were created on the portal as an acknowledgment of such presentation. Once this factual position is undisputed in the Appeal, the four Bills of Entry have necessarily to be assessed as per the rate of duty existing as on the date of presentation i.e. on 05.07.2019; (ii) In terms of section 15 of the Customs Act, 1962 [the Customs Act], it is the date of presentation of the Bills of Entry which is the relevant date for the purpose of ascertaining and applying the rate of duty to be applied on the imported goods. In the facts of the present case, neither at any ea....
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....e meaning assigned to it as in the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); (d) "electronic integrated declaration" means particulars relating to the imported goods that are entered in the Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System; (e) "ICEGATE" means the customs automated system of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs; (f) ******** (g) "supporting documents" means the documents in the electronic form or otherwise, which are relevant to the assessment of the imported goods under sections 17 and 46 of the Act." 13. Regulation 3 requires the authorised person to enter the electronic integrated declaration and the supporting documents on the Customs Automated System. Regulation 4(1) requires the authorised person to file the Bill of Entry before the end of the next day following the day on which the aircraft or vessel or vehicle carrying the goods arrives at a customs station. Regulation 4(2) provides that the Bill of Entry shall be deemed to have been filed and self-assessment completed when after entry of the electronic integrated declaration, a Bill of Entry number is generat....
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....cording to the respondent, only one Bill of Entry number, corresponding to Job Code No. 626, was generated but with respect to Job Code Nos. 629, 630 and 631 Bills of Entry numbers were not generated; (ii) It, therefore, made a representation to the Commissioner of Customs (Imports) on 08.07.2019 and also raised this issue with ICEGATE service manager. It received an e-mail from ICEGATE portal mentioning that the three Bills of Entry could not be generated on account of a technical error at its end and, therefore, asked the respondent to re- file the Bills of Entry; (iii) The respondent, thereafter wrote a letter dated 11.07.2019 to the Commissioner of Customs (Imports) mentioning that when the non-generation of numbers for the three Bills of Entry was on account of some technical glitch in the ICEGATE system, the respondent should not be asked to re-file the same. The respondent also received a letter dated 12.07.2019 from the ICEGATE service manager mentioning therein that due to budget activity on 05.07.2019, the files could not be processed after 5 pm and so the respondent should re-file the Bills of Entry; (iv) The respondent, there....
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....(vii) The importer thereafter sent letter dated 19.07.2019 to the Commissioner (Imports) stating that the direction to resubmit the Bills of Entry was not only illegal but it had resulted in additional liability on the importer. 17. Thus, it can safely be said from the statements made by the respondent and the appellant that the respondent/importer had presented the Bills of Entry with requisite data on 05.07.2019 on the ICEGATE portal for generation of the Bills of Entry numbers, but only one Bill of Entry number was generated on that date. The remaining three Bills of Entry numbers could not be generated due to some technical glitch at the end of ICEGATE portal and also because of the fact that the Bills of Entry could not be processed after 5 pm on 05.07.2019 due to budget activity. The respondent, therefore, re-filed the Bills of Entry and the Job Code Nos. 629, 630 and 631 were processed by the Department on 19.07.2019 and 20.07.2019 and three Bills of Entry numbers were generated. It is not the case of the Department, as set out in "Brief Facts of the Case" in the Memo of Appeal, that incomplete documents were submitted by the respondent on 05.07.2019 as a resu....
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....not processed after 05:00 PM on 05.07.2019 and they should re- file the same. In fact, the fact that these details had been submitted to ICEGATE portal has not been disputed by the Respondent. Further out of four consignments, bill of entry no. got generated for one consignment and assessment was done as per BCD rate applicable on 05.07.2019 while for rest three consignments, assessment remained pending. 5.3 It is also noticed that the Appellant also wrote letters to the Commissionerate Customs, ACC Import on 08.07.2019, 11.07.2019, 15.07.2019 stating that Bills of Entry have been duly presented on 05.07.2019 along with all the supporting documents and that non processing of the same at the end of ICEGATE due to their own system glitches cannot be made the basis for the Appellant to file the same again. However, no response was given and the Appellant had to submit the requisite data again on 19.07.2020 / 20.07.2020 leading to generate of bill of entry numbers. On that date and assessment at rates prevailing on that date which was higher than rate applicable on 05.07.2019. 5.4 I also note from the records that B.E. No. 4148112 dated 20.07.2019 correspo....
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....e of goods cleared from a warehouse under section 68, on the date on which a bill of entry for home consumption in respect of such goods is presented under that section; (c) in the case of any other goods, on the date of payment of duty: Provided that if a bill of entry has been presented before the date of entry inwards of the vessel or the arrival of the aircraft or the vehicle by which the goods are imported, the bill of entry shall be deemed to have been presented on the date of such entry inwards or the arrival, as the case may be (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to baggage and goods imported by post." 23. The submission of the appellant is that the declaration submitted by the respondent on 05.07.2019 was not complete and hence, in view of the definition of 'Bill of Entry' under regulation 2 (1) (c) read with regulation 2 (1)(g) of the 2018 Regulation, there is no deemed completion as three Bills of Entry numbers were not generated on 05.07.2019. 24. As noticed above, this contention of the appellant that the supporting documents had not been filed by the importer on 05.07.2019 and were subsequently provided....
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....tion applicable to any imported goods shall be the rate and valuation in force, in the case of goods entered for home consumption under Seton 46, on the date on which a Bill of Entry in respect of such goods is presented under that Section. A combined reading of the above provisions would, in my view, lead to an inescapable conclusion that the presentation or the Bill of Entry in the prescribed form and not in any different format or in any other ordinary manner, would suffice to confer a right on the importer to have the tariff valuation and rate of duty, as in force on the date of presenting such a Bill of Entry under Section 46 assessed and determined with reference to the date of such presentation and not as on any subsequent or future date. The stipulation in Section 46 pertaining to the presentation of the Bill of Entry is confined to it being merely in the prescribed form and not necessarily with all and every one or the particulars and particularly complete in all respects and more so with accuracy of the information given. The mere fact that anyone information in the prescribed form is not furnished or any defective or incorrect information is furnishes, for any reason wha....
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....zed Representative of the Department has, however, placed reliance on a decision of the Supreme Court in Chatha Rice Mills to contend that a Bill of Entry shall be deemed to have been filed when after entry of declaration on the ICEGATE (Customs Automated Systems), a Bill of Entry number is generated by the Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System for the said declaration, but since Bill of Entry numbers were not generated with respect to three consignments on 05.07.2019, the legal fiction of presentation of Bill of Entry cannot be applicable. 27. Chatha Rice Mills dealt with an issue as to whether the date of presentation or time of presentation would decide the rate of duty. The Supreme Court held that it is the time of presentation which would be relevant and the increased rate of duty would not be applicable if the document was presented before the Notification with regard to the increased rate of duty was uploaded on the e-Gazette. The relevant portions of the judgment are reproduced below: "2. A terrorist attack took place at Pulwama on 14 February, 2019. On 16 February, 2019, the Union Government issued a notification ....
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....(1). He urged that Section 15(1) has no reference to time but only to the date of the presentation of the bill of entry and once a notification was issued on 16 February, 2019 enhancing the rate of duty, that is the duty 'in force' on the date of presentation. Section 15(1)(a) uses two expressions (i) the rate and valuation "in force"; and (ii) "on the date" of the presentation of the bill of entry for home consumption under Section 46. The provisions of Section 15(1)(a) have to be read in conjunction with the provisions of Section 46 which are referred to in the former provision. Section 46 has incorporated a regime which encompasses the submission of the bill of entry for home consumption or warehousing in an electronic format, on the customs automated system in the manner which is prescribed. The Regulations of 2018 stipulate the manner in which the bill of entry has to be presented. The deeming fiction in Regulation 4(2) specifies when presentation of the bill of entry and 'self- assessment' are complete. The rate of duty stands crystallized under Section 15()(a) once the deeming fiction under Regulation 4(2) comes into existence. The regulations have to be read tog....