Delhi High Court Dismisses Pleas Against Customs SCNs On AIFTA Benefits For Copper Imports

The Delhi High Court has dismissed as premature petitions challenging show cause notices denying duty benefits under the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement on copper imports from Vietnam for allegedly failing the 35% value addition requirement. A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar held that the petitions were not maintainable at this stage, noting that the challenge was to show cause notices which initiate adjudicatory proceedings and do not conclusively determine rights ...

Gold Chains In Running Lengths Are Jewellery, Not Semi-Manufactured Gold: CESTAT Bengaluru

The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Bengaluru has recently held that gold chains imported in running lengths are to be treated as articles of jewellery and not as semi-manufactured gold, ruling that minor processes like cutting and attaching hooks do not alter their essential character. A coram of Technical Member Pullela Nageswara Rao said the goods had already taken the form of finished jewellery: “I find that the goods as imported, 'gold neck chains' though...

CESTAT Mumbai Dismisses Gamco Appeal In Customs Dispute, Says Imported Marble Slabs Were Actually Limestone

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Mumbai, has dismissed the appeal filed by Gamco International in a customs classification dispute involving alleged misdeclaration of imported marble slabs. It upheld confiscation, redemption fines, penalties, and denial of exemption after finding that the goods were actually limestone. The tribunal held that, in this case, there was clear misdeclaration of both the nature and quantity of the imported goods. It said the customs...

CESTAT New Delhi Allows Toyota Boshoku's Appeal, Holds Seat Components As 'Parts Of Seats'

The New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 21 April held that goods specifically classifiable as parts of seats cannot be reclassified under a general entry for motor vehicle parts, and accordingly allowed the appeal filed by Shiroki Automobiles India Pvt. Ltd. (now known as Toyota Boshoku Device India Pvt. Ltd.). A Bench comprising President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao set aside the order of the Commissioner...

Delhi High Court Refuses Writ Against Gold Chain Confiscation, Cites Alternate Remedy Under Customs Act

The Delhi High Court has recently refused to entertain a writ petition challenging the confiscation of a gold chain under the Customs Act, 1962, reiterating that writ jurisdiction under Article 226 cannot be invoked to bypass an available statutory remedy of appeal.A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul dismissed the petition filed against an order confiscating a 100-gram gold chain from the Petitioner on his return to India from Bangkok.The petitioner was intercepted...

Delay Beyond 90 Days Not Condonable Under Customs Act: CESTAT Mumbai Reiterates

The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 17 April, held that the Commissioner (Appeals) cannot condone delay in filing an appeal under Section 128(1) of the Customs Act beyond the original 60-day limitation period and the additional condonable 30-day period. A Bench comprising President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar dismissed the appeals filed by Parekh Cranes and Machinery and its partner, and upheld the confiscation...

CESTAT Mumbai Allows Release Of Seized Drone Parts, Says Separate Consignments Not Complete Drones

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Mumbai has ordered the provisional release of seized drones and drone components, holding that Customs cannot deny release by treating separate consignments of parts as complete drones without establishing a one-to-one correlation and that the parts were capable of being reassembled into complete units. A coram of Judicial Member Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati and Technical Member M.M. Parthiban held that the Department failed to show...

Customs Public Notices Cannot Be Issued In A Manner Diluting FTA Benefits Or Overriding Law: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court recently observed that Commissioner of Customs cannot issue public notices in a manner that dilutes the benefits under free trade agreements or overrides statutory provisions and CBIC circulars, while setting aside an order denying preferential duty to Covestro India Pvt. Ltd. The dispute arises from a public notice issued in March 2024 by the Commissioner of Customs at Nhava Sheva, which prescribed additional documentation requirements in cases involving third-party...

CESTAT New Delhi Sets Aside Duty Demand and Penalties On Ranbaxy In Ex-Works Valuation Dispute

On 24 April, the New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) set aside the customs duty demand, invocation of the extended limitation period, and penalties imposed on Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (now Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.) and customs broker Schenker India Pvt. Ltd. A Bench comprising President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao held that although the importer incorrectly declared ex-works price as FOB value in Bills of...

Supreme Court Dismisses Customs Challenge Against ITC Ltd Over Quicklime Classification

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Customs Department's challenge against ITC Ltd, upholding a ruling that treated imported “quicklime” as an industrial form of lime rather than a chemically pure compound. The classification turned on whether the product, containing about 92% calcium oxide, could be considered a high-purity chemical.A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Manmohan found no grounds to interfere with the CESTAT Kolkata Bench order dated June 20, 2025, which had held in favour...

Bombay HC Flags 'Judicial Chaos,' Urges Uniform Litigation Policy Over Contradictory Stands Taken by Tax Depts

The Bombay High Court has recently flagged a persistent issue of the tax and customs department taking inconsistent stands on the same legal question before different High Courts, warning that such conduct leads to “judicial chaos” and needs correction through a uniform litigation policy. A bench of Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe held that once a legal issue has reached finality against the department, it cannot be reopened elsewhere by taking a contrary stand. The court...

Correct Appeal Forum Depends On Officer's Actual Rank, Not What An Order Mentions: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 15 April 2026 held that the appellate forum under the Customs Act, 1962 must be determined by the actual rank and statutory authority exercised by the adjudicating officer, and not by any incorrect or clerical mention in the order. A Division Bench comprising Justices A.S. Supehia and Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Department's Tax Appeal and upheld the CESTAT's order, holding that the appeal was correctly filed before the Tribunal under Section 129A of the Customs Act,...