TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1989 (5) TMI 66
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.... for unloading other cargo intended for that port. It is alleged that the vessel set out on its return journey from Karachi and arrived in the Port of Bombay on 23 July 1981 and waited for a berth. On 4 August, 1981 she was allowed to berth in Princess Docks 'C' Shed and the Customs Authorities made the "final entry" on that date. The petitioners point out that when the vessel made its original journey to Bombay and was waiting in the waters of the Port the petitioners presented the Bill of Entry to the Customs authorities on 9 July 1981, that the Bill of Entry was accepted by the Import Department and an order was passed by the Customs Officer on the Bill of Entry on 18 July 1981 directing the examination of the consignment. 3.It is stated that the Customs authorities have imposed customs duty on the import of the edible oils effected by the petitioners at the rate of 150 per cent on the footing that the import was made on 31st July 1981, the date of "Inward Entry". The case of the petitioners is that the rate of duty leviable on the import should be that ruling on 11 July 1981, when the vessel actually arrived and registered in the Port of Bombay, and that but for the fact tha....
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....goods have been shipped for importation into India is expected to arrive within a week from the date of such presentation. Section 47 empowers the proper officer, on being satisfied that the goods entered for home consumption are not prohibited goods and that the importers had paid the import duty assessed thereon as well as charges in respect of the same, to make an order permitting clearance of the goods for home consumption. 6.According to the petitioners, the cargo of edible oil could not be unloaded in Bombay during the original entry of the ship into the Port for want of an available berth, and it is for no fault of the petitioners that the vessel had to proceed to Karachi for unloading other cargo. Section 15, the petitioners contend, is arbitrary and vague and therefore unconstitutional because it provides no definite standard or norm for determining the rate of duty and tariff valuation and does not take into account situations which are uncertain and beyond the control of an importer. The petitioners contend that the rate of customs duty chargeable on the import of goods in India is the rate in force on the date when the vessel carrying the goods enters the territorial....
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.... discussed by a Full Bench of the Bombay High Court in Apar Private Ltd. and Others v. Union of India and Others - (1985) 22 E.L.T. 644 (Born.) where Madhava Reddy, C.J., speaking for the Court, observed : "If the goods were wholly exempt from basic customs duty leviable under the Customs Act, when they entered the territorial waters of India, no basic duty of customs would be leviable thereon even if such exemption were withdrawn under Section 25 (1) of the Customs Act before the goods are released for home consumption...................................................Only if the goods were chargeable to some basic Customs duty under the Customs Act, when they entered the territorial waters of India, then the rates in force at the time when the bill of entry is presented or at the time when the goods are sought to be cleared for home consumption, as the case may be, would be applicable and the basic duty would be quantified and demanded at those rates." 8.And in Jain Shudh Vanaspati Limited v. S.R. Patankar, Asstt. Collector of Customs, Bombay and Others - 1988 (33) E.L.T. 77 (Bom.) the Bombay High Court proceeded on the basis that where the imported goods were totally exemp....
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.... on 12 July, 1981. According to the normal procedure, if the intimation or presentation of the Manifest is made on the arrival of the vessel it is accompanied by an application for Entry Inward within 24 hours of arrival. In the instant case since the vessel was to arrive later there was no application accompanying the letter dated 6 July, 1981. The vessel arrived on 11 July, 1981. On receipt of the Manifest a "prior entry" is made in the Register, which is called the Register of Inward/Outward Entry of vessels. Upon the recording of the "prior entry" a rotation number is given and conveyed to the Shipping Agent or the Master of the vessel. In the instant case the "prior entry" or rotation number allotted was 743/PE. The Customs authorities display daily, on receipt of the Import General Manifests, the details of the vessels on a notice board for the information of importers. On noticing the arrival or expected arrival of the vessel from the Import General Manifest the importer or his clearing agent files his Bill of Entry. In this case the Bill of Entry was filed on 9 July, 1981. An entry with regard to presentation of the Bill of Entry is made in the Import General Manifest again....
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....n 11 July, 1981. We do not find it possible to accept this submission. The provisions of Sec. 15 are clear in themselves. The date on which a Bill of Entry is presented under Section 46 is, in the case of goods entered for home consumption, the date relevant for determining the rate of duty and tariff valuation. Where the Bill of Entry is presented before the date of Entry Inwards of the vessel, the Bill of Entry is deemed to have been presented on the date of such Entry Inwards. 14.In M/s. Omega Insulated Cable Co., (India) Limited v.The Collector of Customs, Madras (Writ Appeal No. 537 of 1969 decided by the Hon'ble Kailasam and Paul, JJ. on 9 July, 1975.) the Madras High Court addressed itself to the question whether the words in Section 15 (1) (a) of the Act, viz. "date of entry inwards of the vessel by which the goods are imported" mean "the actual entry of the vessel inwards or the date of entry in the register kept by the department permitting the entry inwards of the vessel". The learned judges examined the corresponding provisions of the earlier statute and after comparing the provisions of Section 15 with those of Section 16 of the Customs Act, 1962, and the amendments....