2021 (11) TMI 738

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....10 00, corresponding to 'seeds of maize (corn)' within the chapter enumerating 'cereals' in the First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975 for classification and consequent denial of benefit available in notification 21/2002-Cus dated 1st March 2002 (at serial no 8) and in notification no. 12/2012 dated 17th March 2012 (at serial no 42). Specifically, the grievance of the appellant arises from the order for recovery of differential duty of Rs. 2,83,09,537/- under section 28 of Customs Act, 1962, along with applicable interest under section 28AB of Customs Act, 1962, upon re-assessment of 26 bills of entry filed for import of the impugned goods, valued at Rs. 3,79,88,095/-, between August 2009 and August 2013. In addition, imposition of pena....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....Customs Tariff Act, 1975. 3. The rival submissions were elaborated at length at the hearing and, as the option of filing written submission by 10th September 2021 had not been taken recourse to by either side, we proceed to decide the issue. 4. Learned Counsel for the appellant submits that the imported goods are 'sweet corn' intended for sowing and that the description of 'maize (corn)' proposed by the customs authorities is not the most appropriate. It was further pointed out that even if exclusionary references indicating chapter numbers are to be taken as rules of classification, the specific coverage of note 3(a) discards includability among 'cereals' as proposed by the customs authorities. It was also argued that the very same Expla....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

.... sowing: (a) Leguminous vegetables or sweet corn (Chapter 7); (b) Spices or other products of Chapter 9; (c) Cereals (Chapter 10); or (d) Products of headings 1201 to 1207 or 1211. Therefore, I find that as per Note 3 to Chapter 12 read with Rule 3 (a) of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, Cereals which are classifiable under Chapter 10, will be excluded from the purview of Chapter 12 even if they are used for sowing purpose. It is an established fact that 'maize corn' is 'cereal' and maize corn seeds, even if they are used for sowing, will be classified in CTH 10 & not under CTH 1209.' is a clear and unambiguous exposition of the notes to the chapter an....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....tariff. As use is not the criteria for classification, save where explicitly intended, the tariff accords recognition of these as 'cereals' to enable national policy to be determined accordingly and within the enumerations under the relevant subheading. Nonetheless, 'sweet corn', though a fresh cereal thereby, is further excepted from such coverage by the general notes pertaining to chapter 10 in the Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN). Consequently, 'sweet corn' is not 'cereal' for the purposes of exclusion from chapter 12 of the First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975. 8. The permission envisaged under the Policy on Seed Development, 1988, requiring appropriate clearance by the competent authority empowere....