TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (10) TMI 70
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....by the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), New Customs House, New Delhi [the Commissioner], holding that the appellant is not entitled to claim the benefit of the exemption notification no. 61 of 2007 dated 03.05.2007 [the exemption notification] that amended the earlier exemption notification no. 21 of 2022 dated 01.03.2002 on the import of twine engine light weight Aircraft Type Cessna 525A Citation CJ2+, Registration No. VT-BRT, MSN-525A0373 [Aircraft BRT ] through Bill of Entry No. 226584 dated 17.12.2007. 2. The Commissioner has confirmed Customs Duty demand of Rs. 06,22,67,295/- along with a penalty of Rs. 03,00,00,000/- under section 112 of the Customs Act, 1962 [the Customs Act]. The Commissioner has also ordered for....
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.... (3) (4) (5) (6) 347B 8802(except 8802 60 00) All Goods Nil - 104 xxxxxxxx (B) in the Annexure, after Condition No. 102 and the entries relating thereto, the following Conditions shall be inserted, namely:- xxxxxxxxxx 104. (i) the aircraft are imported by an operator who has been granted approval by the competent authority in the Ministry of Civil Aviation to import aircraft for providing non-scheduled (passenger) services or non-scheduled (charter) services; and (ii) the importer furnishes an undertaking to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, at the time of importation that:- a. the said aircraft shal....
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.... undertaking to the customs authority that the aircraft will be used for the specified services, namely non-scheduled (passenger) services or non-scheduled (charter) services. The undertaking should also state that the importer shall pay on demand, the duty payable, in the event of his failure to use the imported aircraft for the specified purpose. 5. The appellant is a public limited company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 since the year 1988 and claims to be engaged since 1997 in the manufacture and operation of aircrafts for charter hire under valid permits given by the Director General of Civil Aviation [DGCA]. The appellant is engaged in providing non-scheduled services of transportation of persons by air to variou....
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....issued by the DGCA inasmuch as charter services and passenger services are mutually exclusive; (ii) The exemption notification does not refer to Aircraft Rules or any Regulation framed by DGCA for the purpose of NSOP services; (iii) The undertaking given as per exemption notification is only to operate NSOP (passenger) services and for which the appellant has not been issuing 'tickets' to individuals; (iv) The operation of Aircraft BRT cannot qualify as charter services also in absence of 'a published tariff'; (v) The Aircraft BRT was only used within the same group/associated companies under long term lease contract and the same was not publicly available to others for hire; (vi) Non-violation o....
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....arned senior counsel assisted by Shri Kishore Kunal, Shri Manish Rastogi and Ms. Kanak Grover made the following submissions on behalf of the appellant: (i) The issues arising from the order passed by the Commissioner have already been decided by the Larger Bench of the Tribunal in the order dated 08.08.2022 in favour of the appellant; (ii) In M/s. Reliance Commercial Dealers Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Customs, (Preventive) New Customs House, Delhi [Customs Appeal No. 639 of 2010 decided on 08.09.2022], a Division Bench of the Tribunal followed the order dated 08.08.2022 of the Larger Bench; and (iii) Even on the basis of undisputed facts notes in the order passed by the Commissioner, it is clear that the Aircraft B....
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....the category or class of persons to be transported; (ii) There is no requirement of having a published tariff and Condition 104 (c) to the exemption notification cannot be said to be violated on this ground; (iii) Aircraft imported for non-scheduled (passenger) services can be used for non-scheduled (charter) services and there is no restriction on the same. The exemption notification or the CAR do not prohibit a non-scheduled (passenger) service permit holder to use the aircraft for charter operations. This is for the reason that: (a) NSOP (passenger) is a much wider category and specifically includes charter operations in which the entire aircraft is given for hire or reward by charging remuneration from th....