TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (6) TMI 1147
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.... of Customs Authority for Advance Rulings (CAAR, in short) in New Delhi and Mumbai with from 04.01.2021, the said application was transferred to CAAR, New Delhi in terms of section 28-F (3) ibid and regulation 31 of CAAR Regulations, 2021. 3. On perusal thereof, and in view of the time limit of three months for pronouncing its advance rulings from the date of receipt of this application prescribed under section 28-1 (6) ibid, it was held that the aforesaid application received in the O/o AAR, New Delhi on 28.0782020 had become time barred for this Authority. 4. However, on constructive interpretation of the powers vested with this Authority, vide letter dated 04.03.2021, the applicant was advised to intimate whether they continued to be interested in obtaining ruling of this Authority, and if so either resubmit their application in the Form CAAR-I appended to Customs Authority for Advance Rulings Regulations, 2021, or simply affirm that the declarations made in the earlier application remain valid and unchanged, at the earliest to this Authority. It was also informed that the date of receipt of such resubmitted application or affirmation, as the case may be, shall be ta....
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....the Chapter Note 3 of Chapter 8. It has also been pointed out that the advance ruling dated 07.08.2015 in the case of M/S Excellent Betelnut Products Private Limited, which was further relied upon in the Advance Ruling dated 31.03.2017, in the case of M/S Oliya Steel Private Limited, was rendered without taking into consideration the Chapter Note 3 of Chapter 8 as the contention was not raised therein. Hence rulings are sub-silentio the provisions of Chapter Note 3 of Chapter 8. Hence, they cannot be relied upon as binding precedents. He has placed reliance on the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/S Crane Betel Nut Powder Works reported in 2007 (210) ELT 17 1 (SC), in support of his contention. The concerned Commissioner has also mentioned that the applicant has declared two addresses to different authorities viz. DGFT, GSTIN and AAR. 7. In accordance with the procedure prescribed under the CAAR Regulations, 2021, personal hearing was scheduled on 25.03.2021 when the authorized representatives requested for copy of comments of the concerned Commissioner and requested for next date of hearing. As desired, comments of the concerned Commissioner were suppl....
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....boiling in water for 6 hours, mixing food starch, drying, polishing and packaging. (ii) 'Chikni' Supari': Following processes are conducted on raw green fresh betel nut: removing of large impurities by labourers, slicing in small pieces, boiling in water for 6 hours, mixing food starch, drying, polishing and packaging. (iii) 'Unflavoured Supari': Following processes are conducted on raw dried betel nut: removing of large impurities by labourers, removing of small impurities by de-stoner, metal deflection (removal of metal item, if any), garbling, polishing in polishing machine, 3 stage cutting, blowing of weightless particles in blowers, gravity separation by automatic gravity separation machine, roasting in fire gas rotary roaster, metal detection by magnetic metal detectors and packaging. (iv) 'Flavoured Supari': Following processes are conducted on raw dried betel nut: removing of large impurities by labourers, removing of small impurities by de-stoner, metal deflection (removal of metal item, if any), garbling in automatic garblers, polishing in polishing machine, sterilization to remove bacterial count, 3 stage cutting, blowing of weightless pa....
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....containing betel nuts but not containing any one or more of the following ingredients, namely lime, katha (catechu) and tobacco whether or not containing any other ingredients such as cardamom, copra or menthol." They have stated that the impugned goods intended for import by the applicant are not containing lime or Katha (catechu) or tobacco. It is also contended that all the end products/goods which are proposed to be imported by the applicant would get squarely covered under the Supplementary Note 2 of Chapter 21. Therefore, goods in question merit classification under Chapter 21. It is further stated that Chapter 8 covers only fresh and dried Areca Nuts in various forms such as whole, split, ground etc.; boiling takes away the character of betel nuts being fresh and/or dried; the goods to be imported are the end product of the result of processing betel nuts and mixing various ingredients such as mulethi, menthol (flavors) etc. in addition to cutting and slicing, boiling, roasting, polishing, undergoing metal detection process, sterilizing, packaging etc. 12. On the basis of the submissions of the applicant, along with the cited reference to the ruling of the erstwhile AAR a....
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....all quantities of sugar does not affect the classification of fruit in this Chapter. 15. Further, on perusal of the advance rulings given by the erstwhile AAR, New Delhi, which have been referred to by the applicant, I find that case of M/s Excellent Betelnut Products Pvt. Ltd. do cover the four goods involved in the present proceedings; and in both these rulings, the erstwhile AAR has concluded that the said products merit classification under sub-heading 21069030. I find that in reaching this conclusion, AAR has been of the view that on account of the positive language of the Supplementary Note 2 to Chapter 21, it is not necessary for betelnut (supari) to undergo a change of character for it to be classified under Chapter 21. I also find that the AAR had considered the contention of the department that the said four goods merit classification under Chapter 8, but rejected the same. However, while doing so, the erstwhile AAR did not make any comment on the implications of the Chapter Note 3 to Chapter 8 on the processes that raw betel nuts were subjected to obtain the said four goods. Further, AAR was of the opinion that the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case....
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....t and specific provisions of section 28-J (l) of the Customs Act, 1962, I am of the view that the task before me as the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings cannot be to pass rulings on questions of classification of goods simply based on the previous ruling of AAR, even as I readily acknowledge the persuasive value of the same, Therefore, in arriving at my ruling, I refer to the judgments relied upon by the applicant, concerned Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs and more recently the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings, Mumbai in his Ruling No. CAAR/Mum/ARC/l/2021 dated 15.03.2021 in the case relating to M/S Samreen International Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, as indeed my own rulings on similar question. 19. To answer the posed question, I consider the four goods, namely API supari, Chikni supari, unflavoured supari and boiled supari together. In these cases, one set of processes are found to be intended for cleaning; the second set for enhancing preservation; and third set for enhancing appearance or presentation, which are clearly covered by the Chapter Note 3 to Chapter 8. Addition of starch would be included under such process. Therefore, I conclude that the processes t....