TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (8) TMI 739
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....y the first respondent under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. 2. The principal issue that arises for consideration is whether the product imported by the petitioner, namely Vital Wheat Gluten, is entitled to the benefit of exemption from payment of Basic Customs Duty under the Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) Scheme. 3. The petitioner states that it is engaged in the business of importing and trading food additives and food ingredients. In the ordinary course of its business, it imported goods described as "Vital Wheat Gluten" under Bill of Entry No.5680611 dated 13.11.2025. The petitioner claimed exemption from payment of Basic Customs Duty on the strength of Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) No.3411005881 dated 30.12.2....
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....n a suspended Public Notice, is arbitrary and unsustainable. (iii) Learned counsel further submitted that the question whether wheat gluten is covered by the description "wheat flour" for the purpose of the DFIA Scheme is no longer res integra. The issue has already been examined by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) as well as by this Court, and it has been consistently held that wheat gluten is nothing but wheat flour having specific technical characteristics and, therefore, is entitled to the benefit available under the DFIA Scheme. (iv) In support of the said submission, reliance was placed upon the judgment of this Court in W.P.Nos.17912 of 2023 etc., batch, dated 15.10.2025. (v) ....
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....nel Counsel further submitted that wheat flour and wheat gluten are commercially and technically distinct products. According to him, wheat gluten is obtained by processing wheat flour through aqueous separation whereby starch and other constituents are removed. Wheat gluten is available either in the form of a whitish viscous paste (moist gluten) or as a cream-coloured powder (dry gluten). He submitted that wheat gluten is a value-added product having considerably higher commercial value than wheat flour. While wheat flour enjoys exemption from customs duty, wheat gluten attracts customs duty at the rate of 30%. Therefore, according to the respondents, wheat gluten cannot be treated as wheat flour for the purpose of claiming exemption unde....
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....heat gluten is covered by the description "wheat flour" for the purpose of the DFIA Scheme. The Tribunal also held that there is no requirement under the DFIA Scheme that the ITC (HS) Code of the imported goods should exactly correspond with that mentioned in the authorisation, so long as the description, quantity and value are satisfied. 14. After considering the aforesaid decisions, the Coordinate Bench of this Court concluded that wheat flour and wheat gluten fall under the same description for the purpose of the DFIA Scheme. Consequently, it held that the proceedings initiated by the Customs Department, which proceeded on the contrary assumption, could not be sustained. 15. It is also relevant to note that the Commissioner of Cust....
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....19. Further, the principal basis for issuing the impugned seizure memo is the Public Notice dated 02.11.2016. Admittedly, the said Public Notice had been suspended on 26.08.2025, prior to the import made by the petitioner. Once the public notice stands suspended, it ceases to operate prospectively. Therefore, the respondents could not have relied upon the said Public Notice to form the belief that the goods were liable to confiscation. 20. The Circular dated 24.07.2025 also clarifies that, in cases such as the present one, there is no requirement to establish a technical correlation between the imported goods and the export product. Thus, even the department's own Circular does not support the stand taken by the respondents. 21. The q....