TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (8) TMI 178
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....to consider application of petitioner with an average annual turnover below Rs.25 crore over the preceding three financial years for allocation of quotas. (c) quash and set aside provisional allocation of Tarifi Rate Quotas (TRQs) under India-UAE CEPA for FY 2028-26 for the import of Gold Bullion under HS 7108 made vide meeting of the Respondent No.2 held on 29.04.2025 at Annexure-I of Annexure-'C' to this Petition; (d) pending the admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, to stay provisional allocation of Tarifi Rate Quotas (TRQs) under India- UAE CEPA for FY 2025-26 for the import of Gold Bullion under HS 7108 made vide meeting of the Respondent No.2 held on 29.04.2025 at Annexure-I of Annexure-'C' to this Petition;" 3 The brief facts of the case are as under: 3.1 The Government of India and the Government of United Arab Emirates have signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (for short CEPA) on 18.02.2022. Thereafter, on 30.04.2022, the Department of Revenue in exercise of the powers conferred by sub- section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962, issued Notification No. 22/2022-Customs to give the effect to the first tranche of&nbs....
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....applicants is higher. 3.7 In the meeting held on 18.05.2023, it was recorded that allocation has been made in the multiples of the minimum lot size of 5 kgs. It appears from the minutes of the meeting held on 18.05.2023, that about 341 importers were allocated the quota for the Financial Year 2023-24. 3.8 For the allotment of the Tariff Rate Quota under the India-UAE CEPA for the Financial Year 2024-25, meeting of the DGFT was held on 15.04.2024 and the minutes were recorded to the effect that the applicants who are not qualified jewellers and have no prior importers shall also be allocated 80 kgs of tariff quota for import. 3.9 Thereafter, the petitioner made an application on 24.01.2025 for the Tariff Rate Quota under the India-UAE CEPA for allocation of 850 kgs of gold bars. The DGFT in anticipation of the large number of applications against the limited available Tariff Rate Quota, sought mandatory information from the applicant through Trade Notice No.30/2024-25 dated 12.02.2025 to furnish the details of the turnover of the last three financial years. The petitioner therefore submitted the requisite details along with the CA Certificate on 24.02.2025. 3.10 Thereafter, in t....
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....he Committee agreed to rationalise the number of authorisation holders to a reasonable extent, while still allowing for a broader distribution compared to earlier years v Accordingly, certain categories of applicants were not considered for allocation of quotas, in line with established policy parameters and regulatory precedents, as detailed below; (a) Scheduled Commercial Banks - Consistent with the extant provisions, banks have already been accorded recognition under the policy framework to directly import gold Given their designated role as nominated agencies acting as primary suppliers to the industry, separate quota allocation in this context was deemed unnecessary. (b) Applicants with an average annual turnover below Rs.25 crore over the preceding three financial years - The Committee took note of condition (g) of the Annexure to DGFT Public Notice No 06/2015-20 dated 01 05 2022, which prescribed a minimum average annual turnover of Rs.25 crore as an eligibility criterion for TRQ allocations. A similar threshold is reflected in the applicable IFSCA regulations, which stipulate a minimum net worth of Rs.25 crore for recognition as Qualified Jewellers In view of these al....
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.... respondent authority had issued the public notices which could not have been set aside and no new procedure could have been evolved by respondent No.2 for allocation of the Tariff Rate Quota. 5.2 It was submitted that the petitioner had made application relying upon the Notification No. 6 of 2023 dated 17.04.2023 after which no further pubic notice has been issued by the DGFT amending the Annexure-IV under Appendix-2A for import of items under Tariff Rate Quota under India-UAE CEPA, and therefore, the petitioner has bonafidely believed that the application of the petitioner shall be considered and by the impugned allocation made by the respondent No.2, the Public Notice No. 06/2023 is not considered and instead Public Notice No. 6/2015-20 dated 01.05.2022 which prescribed the minimum annual turnover of Rs.25 crores as an eligibility criteria for TRQ allocation is considered. It was submitted that Notification No. 6/2015-2020 dated 01.05.2022 is already amended by the Notification No. 6/2023 dated 17.04.2023, and therefore the respondent No.2 could not have relied upon the said notification for allocation of the TRQ under Annexure-IV....
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.... column (2) of the said TABLE, from so much of the duty of customs leviable thereon as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said TABLE and from so much of the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) leviable under section 124 of the Finance Act. 2021 (13 of 2021), as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) of the said TABLE (iii) goods of the description specified in column (3) of the TABLE III appended below. and falling within the Tarifi item of the First Schedule to the Customs Tarill Act, 1975, as are specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the said TABLE in such quantity of total imports of such goods in a year, as specified in column (4) of the said TABLE (hereinafter referred to as the tarifi rate quota (TRQ) quantity), from so much of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the said First Schedule as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate as specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) of the said TABLE (hereinafter referred to as the "In- quota tarifi rate") and from so much of the Agriculture....
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....01.05.2022 was issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade, whereby, the Tariff Rate Quota as mentioned in the notification dated 30.04.2022 and the procedure for allocation of imports under the TRQ is notified. The condition (g) of the Public Notice No.6 of 2015-2016, reads as under: "g. For Gold TRQ under 7108, the following conditions shall be considered additionally: i. Eligible Applicant must be a jewellery manufacturer ii. Eligible Applicant must be engaged in the business of goods falling under ITC(HS) codes 7108, 7113, 7114 and 7118 in Chapter 71 of ITC(HS). iii Such Jewellery manufacturer should have an average of Rs. 25 crores over the last three financial years. iv. The turnover of such Jewellery manufacturer should either: comprise of 90% of items manufactured/sold under HS code 7113 or comprise of a quantity of items manufactured/sold under HS code 7113 which is at least equal to the TRQ quantity bid by the respective jewellery manufacturer (capped to the maximum TRQ permissible per annum) under HS code 7113. v. Such Jewellery manufacturer should have a GST number and should have filed GST returns up to the applicable preceding GST return filing per....
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....er (capped to the maximum TRQ allocation permissible per annum) under HS code 7113. v. Such Jewellery manufacturer should have a GST number and should have filed GST returns up to the applicable preceding GST return filing period. vi. Financial statements containing annual turnovers of the eligible applicant should be duly certified/audited by a Chartered Accountant, on the basis of the jewellers GST declarations. Deleted Effect of this Public Notice: Condition (g) regarding manufacturer requirement for import of Gold under HS code 7108 under the TRQ of India UAE CEPA has been waived ofi in sync with Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) Notification, No. 20/2023-Customs dated 31st March 2023." 8. Considering the above facts, it appears that the allocation of the Tariff Rate Quota is nothing but the policy decision of the respondent government which only makes the petitioner eligible to make an applicatin for allotment of the Tariff Rate Quota under the India-UAE CEPA. However, at the same time, as per the norms it is for the DGFT to allocate such quota considering the number of applications made for allocation. For the Financial Year 2025-26, t....