Supreme Court Stays ₹14.91 Crore Customs Duty Recovery Against HP India, Issues Notice

The Supreme Court has stayed recovery pursuant to a Rs.14.91 crore customs demand against HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd. and issued notice in its appeal against a November 4, 2025 order of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).HP India's appeal challenges the CESTAT Mumbai order, which upheld the classification of its imported “HP Latex printers” as inkjet printing machines instead of inkjet printers, leading to the duty demand along with interest and penalty under the...

Delhi High Court Grants Importers Interest On Customs Duty Refunds After Delay In Re-Assessment By Department

The Delhi High Court has recently held that importers are entitled to interest on refunds of excess customs duty in cases where prolonged delay in reassessment is attributable to the Department. A Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain observed, "For the delay in Department's passing of the re-assessment orders, the Petitioners cannot be blamed or expected to unduly suffer. Accordingly, the Court is of the view that in the said four writ petitions, the interest...

CESTAT Delhi Denies Nikon ₹7.32 Crore Refund, Holds Claim Pre-Exemption Decision Is Not Maintainable

The New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi on 6 April, held that a refund claim filed before final adjudication of the underlying exemption dispute is not maintainable, even where duty has been paid under protest. A Bench comprising President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao dismissed the appeal filed by Nikon India Private Limited and upheld rejection of its refund claim. The Tribunal held: “The facts of the...

AIFTA Duty Exemption For Scrap Cannot Be Denied To Jindal Aluminum For No Country of Origin Markings: CESTAT Chennai

The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has recently granted relief to Jindal Aluminium Ltd., holding that exemption under the ASEAN–India Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA) cannot be denied merely due to the absence of country-of-origin markings on imported scrap goods.The Bench comprising Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member M. Ajit Kumar allowed the appeal filed by Jindal Aluminium Ltd. and set aside the order of the...

Kerala High Court Quashes 25 kg Gold Confiscation, Holds Denial Of Cross-Examination Vitiates Proceedings

The Kerala High Court on 3 March quashed a customs confiscation order involving 25 kilograms of gold, holding that denying the petitioners an effective opportunity to adduce evidence and cross-examine witnesses caused prejudice and violated principles of natural justice. Justice Ziyad Rahman A A, sitting as a Single-Judge Bench, allowed writ petitions challenging the Order-in-Original passed by the Customs authority, which had confiscated the gold and imposed penalties. He observed: “The...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Quashes Distillery Licence Cancellation Over Lack Of Independent Application of Mind

The Himachal Pradesh High Court set aside the cancellation of distillery licences, holding that the decision was influenced by an unauthorised recommendation and lacked independent application of mind. It permitted fresh adjudication by the competent authority. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua was dealing with a writ petition filed by a distillery licensee (Tiloksons Brewery & Distillery) challenging cancellation of its licences in Forms D-2 and L-11 under the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act, 2011.The...

Deeming Fiction vs. Evidentiary Reality: CESTAT Mumbai Limits Rule 17(2) Of Pan Masala Packing Machines Rules

A tussle between Fiction and Fact: Unravelling the tension in Capacity-Based TaxationThere is a continuous struggle surrounding the jurisprudence on capacity-based taxation to reconcile the statutory deeming provisions with the underlying factual matrix. The recent decision of the CESTAT Mumbai Bench, as elucidated in Zemini Marketing Company v. Commissioner of CGST, Kolhapur Excise Appeal No. 86026, 86030, 86031, 86032, 86033, 86036, 86037, 86038, 86039 of 2013, highlights a significant...

Clandestine Gold Transport & High Purity Satisfy “Reasonable Belief” Under Customs Act: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 31 March restored the adjudicating authority's confiscation of 1,999.90 grams of gold, holding that clandestine transport and high scientific purity of bullion establish a “reasonable belief” of smuggling under the Customs Act. A Division Bench of Justices Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Uday Kumar allowed the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Kolkata's appeals, reinstated the confiscation and penalties, and set aside the Tribunal's order that had granted relief to the...

Delhi High Court Grants Interest on Delayed Customs Duty Refunds To Mobile Importers, Denies Relief To Lava

The Delhi High Court has held that mobile importers, including Intex Technologies (India) Ltd., are entitled to interest on refunds of excess customs duty paid by them.A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain allowed a batch of writ petitions filed by multiple importers, including Jaina Mobile India, Intex Technologies, and UT Electronics (Petitioners), all of whom had been granted refunds of excess Countervailing Duty (CVD) but were denied interest.However, no interest on...

Supreme Court Dismisses Fox Mandal's Appeal In ₹3.89 Crore Service Tax Case

The Supreme Court recently (March 25) dismissed an appeal filed by Fox Mandal and Company against the Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax, Noida, declining to interfere with the CESTAT order, which upheld service tax and CENVAT-related demands aggregating to about Rs. 3.89 crore.While refusing to interfere with the CESTAT judgment dated December 11, 2024, which had upheld substantial service tax demands and remanded certain issues for reconsideration, a bench of Justices Pamidighantam...

Circular Issued In Delhi Does Not Confer Jurisdiction: Delhi High Court Dismisses Plea On Goods Seized By Customs In Kolkata

The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed a writ petition filed by a steel importer challenging the detention of its goods, holding that the mere issuance of a circular or decision by an authority located in Delhi does not, by itself, confer territorial jurisdiction on the Court.A division bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul was dealing with a plea filed by a company engaged in the import of steel products, whose consignments had been detained at ports in Kolkata and...

Confiscation Cannot Survive Once Declared Transaction Value Is Accepted: CESTAT Mumbai

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 17 March, held that the confiscation of imported goods under Section 111(m) of the Customs Act cannot be sustained once the declared transaction value is accepted. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Ajay Sharma, set aside the confiscation of goods, redemption fine and penalties imposed on Kumar Impex, reasoning that once the transaction value is accepted, the allegation of undervaluation and resulting revenue...