CESTAT Bangalore Rejects ₹19.11 Lakh SAD Refund Claim Filed Beyond One-Year Limit

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Bangalore Bench, has held that an importer cannot claim a refund of Special Additional Duty (SAD) after the prescribed one-year period from the date of payment of duty.The Tribunal held that the limitation period introduced through Notification No. 93/2008-Customs dated August 1, 2008, applies to imports made after the amendment came into force. It accordingly set aside an order granting an importer of almonds a refund of ₹19.11...

Customs Act | 210% Bank Guarantee For Provisional Release Of Imported Goods Disproportionate: CESTAT Delhi

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, has recently held that requiring an importer to furnish a bank guarantee of 210% of the proposed differential customs duty for provisional release of goods is disproportionate. It reduced the ₹4.63 crore bank guarantee imposed on Columbia Developers Pvt. Ltd. for the release of its imported Cadillac Escalade V to 50% of the proposed differential duty, while retaining the ₹5.80 crore bond requirement.The bench,...

Customs Appeals Involving Prohibited Goods Not Exempt From ₹1 Crore Monetary Threshold: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the mere involvement of prohibited goods in a customs dispute does not exempt the Customs Department from complying with the minimum ₹1 crore monetary threshold prescribed for filing appeals before the High Court.The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain observed that the instructions issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on November 2, 2023, expressly provide only three exceptions to the monetary limit, and cases...

Customs Can't Club Demands Against Multiple Parties To Meet Monetary Limit For Appeal: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that where a common adjudication order under the Customs Act involves multiple parties, the Customs Department cannot club the demands raised against them to satisfy the monetary threshold prescribed for filing an appeal before the High Court.The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain observed that each appeal arising from a composite adjudication order must be treated as a separate case for determining whether it meets the monetary limit fixed by...

CESTAT Allows Acer India CENVAT Credit, Says Revenue Neutrality Negates Intent To Evade Duty

The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 5 November partly allowed Acer India's appeal, permitting CENVAT credit on Special Additional Duty (SAD) paid on imported computer components used for free warranty replacements. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member Vasa Seshagiri Rao held that CENVAT credit cannot be denied in the absence of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts with intent to evade duty,...

Karnataka High Court Revives Inquiry Against Tax Officers Over Wrong Customs Duty Exemption

The Karnataka High Court on 29 October revived disciplinary proceedings against three Central Tax Superintendents over the alleged wrongful grant of customs duty exemption to imported tugs, setting aside the Central Administrative Tribunal's (CAT) orders quashing the proceedings. A Bench comprising Justices S.G. Pandit and Chillakur Sumalatha allowed three writ petitions filed by the Union of India and the concerned tax authorities, holding that the Tribunal could not examine the merits of the...

Customs Can Examine Third-Party Payments To Verify Exporters' Duty Drawback Claims: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that Customs authorities can examine whether payments received from third parties actually represent sale proceeds for exported goods while determining an exporter's entitlement to retain duty drawback.Referring to Section 75 of the Customs Act, 1962, which provides for duty drawback on exported goods, the court ruled,"The reference in Section 75 to “sale proceeds in respect of such goods” necessarily requires the Customs authorities, when the entitlement to...

Delhi High Court Flags Mounting Demurrage Due To Customs Delay In Adjudicating Detained Goods Cases

The Delhi High Court has flagged delays by Customs authorities in adjudicating cases involving detained goods, observing that the delay cannot be used as a mode of punishment for passengers while demurrage charges continue to accumulate.The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain made the observation while hearing a petition filed by Niyamat Khan concerning goods detained by Customs at the Delhi airport.The goods were detained in January 2025. Although Customs issued a notice...

CESTAT Mumbai Rejects Customs Reclassification Brown Rice Protein Powder, Quashes ₹85.28 Lakh Demand

On 2 November, the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Mumbai, set aside the reclassification of Brown Rice Protein Powder imported by Unibourne Food Ingredients and quashed a differential customs duty demand of Rs. 85,28,035. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Ajay Sharma and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban allowed the appeal against the order passed by the Commissioner of Customs (NS-I), Nhava Sheva, holding that the Revenue had failed to establish that the imported...

Loading Incidental To Transportation Cannot Attract Cargo Handling Service Tax: CESTAT Allahabad

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Allahabad, has ruled that transportation of goods cannot be classified as Cargo Handling Service merely because loading is involved in the process. Setting aside a service tax demand of ₹2.01 crore against R.P.L. Projects Limited, the tribunal held that coal transportation was the predominant activity, while loading was only incidental to it.A bench comprising Judicial Member P.K. Choudhary and Technical Member K. Anpazhakan heard...

Micromax Entitled To Interest On Delayed Customs Duty Refunds: Delhi High Court Dismisses Department's Appeals

The Delhi High Court has dismissed four appeals filed by the Customs Department challenging the grant of statutory interest to Micromax Informatics Limited on delayed customs duty refunds.The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain held that Micromax was entitled to statutory interest on the refund amounts, following CETSTA 's decision that the company was entitled to the principal refund amounts.The Court observed that the Customs Department's challenge no longer survived in...

Delhi High Court Dismisses Customs Department's Appeals Against ₹175 Crore CVD Refund To Micromax

The Delhi High Court has dismissed five appeals filed by the Customs Department challenging the sanction of customs duty refunds to Micromax Informatics Limited, holding that the company had successfully established that it had not passed on the burden of countervailing duty (CVD) to its customers.The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain upheld the findings of the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) and CESTAT, which had ruled in favour of Micromax.The Court held that the...