Provisional Bills of Entry and India-UAE CEPA NIL duty claim at finalisation: rejection overturned, remanded for reassessment

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....Where Bills of Entry were assessed provisionally under s.18 of the Customs Act, the assessing authority was required to consider, at finalisation, the importer's claim for NIL duty at the preferential rate under the India-UAE CEPA notification, even if the benefit was not claimed at filing or at out-of-charge and even if the country-of-origin certificate was issued retrospectively, provided the notification conditions were otherwise satisfied. Treating the matter as governed by s.17 and refusing to apply precedent on provisional assessment was held erroneous. The finalisation order was set aside and the matter remanded to reconsider eligibility in light of the later CBIC Instruction No. 21/2024-Customs and the tribunal's observations - CESTAT....