TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (1) TMI 1292
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ff Act, 1975 that came to be substituted, in impugned order [order-in-original no. 244/2023-24/Commr/NS-V/CAC/JNCH dated 27th February 2024] of Commissioner of Customs (NS-V), Nhava Sheva, on the finding that 'inkjet printing machine' corresponding to tariff item 8443 3910 of First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is more appropriate description of the impugned goods and consequent recovery of duty of Rs. 14,91,36,350 under section 28 of Customs Act, 1962, along with applicable interest under section 28AA of Customs Act, 1962 on 'HP Latex printers', of varying models valued at Rs. 149,53,77,789 and imported between October 2016 and March 2021, that were held as liable to confiscation under section 111(m) of Customs Act, 1962 but offered for redemption under section 125 of Customs Act, 1962 on payment of fine of Rs. 15,00,00,000 while imposing penalty of Rs. 14,91,36,350 under section 114A of Customs Act, 1962. 2. It is of interest to note that there is no dispute that the impugned goods are covered by 'Printing machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; other printers, copying machines and facsimile....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....om these sub-headings.' in the Subheading Explanatory Notes in the same chapter emphasizes the conformity claimed by them. 4. Learned Counsel further relied on circular [circular no. 11/2008-Cus dated 1st July 2008] of Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), placing the issue in perspective thus '2......Prior to implementation of HS 2007 changes, the classification of printers was under sub-heading 8471 60 if these were capable of connecting to a central processing unit and able to accept/deliver data in the form used by the ADP system, as an output of the ADP. However, inkjet printing machines, other than those as above classifiable under Heading 8471 were separately classified under sub-heading 8443 51. Subsequently, the classification of Printers was revised to HS 2007 and grouped under single heading 8443..... xxx ..These printers do not have an in-built ADP machine and cannot do any processing by themselves and do not have any independent function sans the use of a computer...The Large Format Printers are connectible to an ADP machine or to a network by simply attaching a cable and thus satisfy the conditions of connectability enumerated in the exp....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nting us is an issue that requires resolution between two sub-headings within which are found the rival tariff lines with the apparently significant delineation between 'printer' and 'printing machine' that happen to bear 'inkjet' technology with the corresponding parents distinguished by 'capable of connecting..' in one; as the rival tariff lines do no lie within the same sub-heading and considering that the same sub-classification govern both, viz., printers other than the traditional mode, bringing both within the same group, it is 'capable of connecting....' on which our attention is focused. It would appear that an apparent distinction between 'printer' and 'printing machine' is nomenclature legacy of mere archival significance. Before the amendment [HS 2007], 'inkjet printer' was treated as 'input or output units' of 'automatic data processing' machines against tariff item 8471 6027 of First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975 obviating the need for the qualification that is now attached while 'ink-jet printing machines' always remained in one heading which grouped different types of printers but at sub-heading level, all of itself among the printing technology of earlier ye....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....onstruing and conceptual commotion in colloquial usage. Capable is often misunderstood to mean compatibility whereas it is an expression of appreciation of 'ability, fitness or quality to do or achieve a specified thing'; a printer does printing and capability of connecting, in this context, means capability for printing only by connecting. It does not refer to the automatic data processing machine as source of material for printing but the impossibility of printing on its own without the controlling software residing in an external automatic data processing machine. The use of automatic data processing network for preparation of graphics and materials with storage thereto is akin to 'type setting' or 'photogravure' in the traditional printing systems but does not make it a printer of itself. The sole test is the capacity to print and not by being output for a data processing machine which was its reason for existence elsewhere in the tariff prior to amendment of Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN). That is apparent from 'The criterion "capable of connecting to an automatic data processing machine or to a network" denotes that the apparatus comprises all the components....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the burden of proof...' and, with the two rival headings being mutually exclusive, there is no call to subject the claimed and the determined to a comparison. Fitment within one excludes fitment in the other. 12. Learned Counsel had, on the submission of goods not being under control of customs or under seizure, contested the imposition of redemption fine under section 125 of Customs Act, 1962. The Hon'ble High Court of Bombay, in Commissioner of Customs (Import), Mumbai v. Finesse Creation Inc. [2009 (8) TMI 115 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT], has held that '5. In our opinion, the concept of redemption fine arises in the event the goods are available and are to be redeemed. If the goods are not available, there is no question of redemption of the goods. Under Section 125 a power is conferred on the Customs Authorities in case import of goods becoming prohibited on account of breach of the provisions of the Act, rules or notification, to order confiscation of the goods with a discretion in the authorities on passing the order of confiscation, to release the goods on payment of redemption fine. Such an order can only be passed if the goods are available, for redemption. The qu....