2026 (5) TMI 25

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....ms (Adjudication), Delhi Zone [the Commissioner] by which the classification of the goods in the Shipping Bills under Customs Tariff Item [CTI] 3808 99 10 or CTI 3808 99 90 has been rejected and the Shipping Bills have been reassessed. The Commissioner has confirmed the demand of duty with interest and penalty. 2. It transpires from the records that under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme [MEIS] scrips were issued to the appellant by the Director General of Foreign Trade [DGFT] and these scrips were utilized by the appellant for discharge of customs duty liability on the import of raw materials used for manufacturing exported goods during the period 23.01.2016 to 04.03.2020. 3. The department believed that the appellant had av....

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.... imported using such MEIS scrips. To support this contention, learned counsel placed reliance upon decisions of this Tribunal in M/s APAR Industries vs. Commissioner of Customs [2025-VIL-731-CESTAT-MUM-CU], K.K. Exports vs. C.C., New Delhi (Import & General) [2025-VIL-1760-CESTAT-DEL-CU] and Pankaj Chordia vs. The Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex, New Delhi [2025-VIL-1434-CESTAT-DEL-CU]. Learned counsel for the appellant also made other submissions, including that relating to the invocation of the extended period of limitation. 6. Shri Girijesh Kumar, learned authorized representative appearing for the department, however, supported the impugned order and submitted that the appellant had deliberately misclassified the goods bef....

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....t a licence/scrip obtained by fraud is not void ab-initio and is merely voidable. The concept that fraud vitiates everything would not be applicable if the licence/scrip had been obtained for valuable consideration without any notice of fraud having being committed by the original licensee/scrip holder while obtaining licence/scrip. The decisions also hold that cancellation of the scrips after the imports had been made on the basis of the scrips would not have any impact on the import as at that point of time the scrips were valid. 31. What, therefore, transpires from the aforesaid decisions is that wherever the licensing authority has issued the licence/DEPB scrip on the basis of which the exemption is sought from customs duty, ei....