TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (11) TMI 1664
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....ppellant in Customs Appeal Nos. 75772 to 75782 of 2024] have been taken up for perusal of relevant documents. 1. The details of the appeals filed by the Appellants are as under: - ● Rungta Mines Ltd. v. Commissioner of Cus. (Preventive), Bhubaneswar Sl. No. Appeal No(s). Impugned Order No. & Dt. 1 C/75772/2024 Order-in-Appeal No. 33- 43/CUS/CCP-GST/2020 dated 31.07.2020 2 C/75773/2024 3 C/75774/2024 4 C/75775/2024 5 C/75776/2024 6 C/75777/2024 7 C/75778/2024 8 C/75779/2024 9 C/75780/2024 10 C/75781/2024 11 C/75782/2024 ● Rungta Sons Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Cus. (Preventive), Bhubaneswar Sl. No. Appeal No(s). Impugned Order No. & Dt. 1 C/75770/2024 Order-in-Appeal No. 31-32/CUS/CCP-GST/2020 dated 31.07.2020 2 C/75771/2024 ● Bonai Industrial Co. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Cus. (Preventive), Bhubaneswar Sl. No. Appeal No(s). Impugned Order No. & Dt. 1 C/75766/2024 Order-in-Appeal No. 27-28/CUS/CCP-GST/2020 dated 31.07.2020 2 C/75767/2024 ● Feegrade Co. Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Cus. (Preventive....
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.... The Commissioner (Appeals), G.S.T., C.X. & Customs, Bhubaneswar has upheld the Order of Finalisation of Assessment of concerned Shipping Bills by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Dhamra Customs Division, Dhamra, on the following grounds: i) Since the Fe content was found to be more than 58% in all the Test Reports, namely, the goods were held to be classifiable under Chapter Heading 26011149 and liable for payment of export duty @ 30% adv. ii) For valuation purpose, the Transaction Value on PDMT price as per contract was accepted. iii) The judgement in the case of Union of India Vrs Gangadhar Narsinghdas Agrawal [1997 (89) E.L.T. 19 (S.C.)] and C.B.E.C. Circular No.04/2012-Cus dated 17.02.2012 according to which the percentage of Fe content in the Iron Ore had to be determined taking all the impurities including moisture into account (WMT) was held to be not relevant here as at present the duty is being charged on ad valorem basis and on the basis of Transaction Value agreed between the exporter and the overseas purchaser on basis of Dry Weight Percentage of Iron Ore Fines. 8. Being aggrieved by the impugned Orders-in- Appeal, the appellants are....
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....es on as received basis, A = % of Fe as per the Lab report, i.e. on Dry basis, M = % of Moisture content in the sample. v) The Assessing Officer for the impugned Shipping Bills have considered the Test Report at Load Port(LPTR), Discharge Port(DPTR) and Custom House Lab Report(CHLR)/CRCL) for determining the classification and rate of duty applicable. While doing so, he has referred to CBEC Circular No. 12/2014- Cus which relates to Valuation of export goods. vi) But in all these reports, the Fe content have been determined on Dry Metric Ton (DMT) basis, which goes against the ratio laid down in the cited decisions. vii) Further, the Report of Custom House Chemical Laboratory (CHCL/ CRCL) just mentions the percentage of Fe and Moisture and does not provide the details of other impurities, which is essential for converting the Fe percentage on DMT basis to Fe percentage on WMT basis in terms of Circular No.4/2012-Cus. viii) He requested that the Order(s)-in-Appeal be set aside and the assessing officers be directed to finalise the assessments after determining the Fe content on WMT basis by deducting the moisture and other impuri....
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.... required to be made on Wet Metric Ton (WMT) basis which in other words mean deducting the weight of all impurities (inclusive of moisture) out of the total weight/Gross Weight to arrive at Net Fe content. 15. Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India v. Gangadhar Narsingdas Aggarwal [1997 (89) E.L.T. 19 (S.C.)], had upheld the judgment of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the case of Union of India &Ors. v. Gangadhar Narsingdas Agrawal & Anr. [1988 (33) E.L.T. 673 (Bom.)]. The Hon'ble Bombay High Court in its judgment had observed as under: " 3. Before going into the contentions of Mr. Rege, learned Counsel for the appellants, it must be noticed that there is no dispute that the lumpy iron ore and iron ore fines exported by the petitioners was in a moist condition at the time when it was exported. Thus, what the petitioners exported was moist lumpy iron ore and moist iron ore fines. 4. It is also undisputed that the rate of customs duty has to be calculated on the basis of the goods being in such condition as they were in at the time of export. Thus, it is an undisputed position that the claim for partial exemption from customs duty made by the petiti....
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....rt duty is chargeable according to Fe contents, and to maintain uniformity all over the custom houses, it is clarified that for the purpose of charging of export duty the assessment of Iron ore for determination of Fe contents shall be made on Wet Metric Ton (WMT) basis which in other words mean deducting the weight of impurities (inclusive of moisture) out of the total weight/Gross Weight to arrive at Net Fe contents." 17. This decision has been consistently followed in the following High Court/Tribunal decisions/orders: i. Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt. Ltd. v. K.C. Lakiri & Anr. [1987 (30) E.L.T.686 (Goa High Court)] ii. Mineral Enterprises Ltd. v. CC, Mangalore [2010(253) ELT 241 (Tri. - Bang.)] iii. General Nice Mineral Resources (I) P. Ltd. Versus C.C. Vijayawada [2017 (352) E.L.T. 94 (Tri. - Hyd.)] iv. Oblapuram Mining Company Pvt. Ltd. Vs CC Visakhapatnam [2017-TIOL-1169 (CESTAT-Hyd.)] v Hon'ble High Court of Bombay at Goa in their Order in Writ Petition No. 216/2022 dated 23.09.2022 in the case of VM Salgaokar & others Vs Asst Commissioner of Customs(Export), Goa & others ; 18. This Bench vide Final Order No 7664....
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....d in terms of the following directions : "I. Insofar as the assessments in relation to the period prior to 1st May2022 are concerned, they shall be governed by the principles of law in regard to the classification as laid down by the Supreme Court in Union of India vs. Gangadhar Narsingdas Aggarwal (supra), as clarified by the communication dated 17 February 2012, of the Tariff unit of the Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue (CBEC) Customs-IV Division. II. xxxxxxxxXXXX III. In view of our above conclusion, we set aside the impugned orders-in-original dated 17 March 2022 and 13 March 2022 passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs. IV. We order a remand of the matter in both the cases to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, who shall hear the petitioners and pass a fresh order in accordance with law, in the light of the principles of laws as discussed by us in this judgement. Such exercise shall be undertaken within a period of three months from today. 21. Coming to the issue raised by the appellants about the moisture content Test Reports submitted by various agencies at different points of time, the details of such reports genera....