CESTAT
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,...
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,...
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...
CESTAT Mumbai Sets Aside Customs Broker Licence Suspension Over Four-Month Delay, Lack Of Urgency
The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Mumbai, has set aside the suspension of a Customs Broker licence, finding that the department failed to demonstrate any urgency warranting immediate action.A Bench comprising Judicial Member Ajay Sharma and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar heard an appeal filed by Navbharat Consolidation Pvt. Ltd. against an order dated September 16, 2026, passed by the Principal Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai. The licence was suspended...
Bombay High Court Sets Aside Asahi India Glass Customs Order Over Untraceable Judicial Citations
The Bombay High Court on 28 October set aside a customs order against Asahi India Glass Ltd., holding that the authority could not sustain its decision by relying on judicial citations that the Customs Department itself admitted could not be traced. A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Sandesh D. Patil allowed the company's petition and remanded the matter to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs for fresh adjudication. The judges observed: “In paragraph 25 (b) of the affidavit in reply...
CESTAT Chennai Rejects Customs Department's Bid To Classify Imported Supari As Split Areca Nuts
The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai, has rejected the Customs Department's attempt to reclassify imported unflavoured supari as split areca nuts, upholding the importer's declared classification. A Bench of Judicial Member Ajayan T.V. and Technical Member Vasa Seshagiri Rao held that the Department had failed to produce sufficient evidence to establish that the goods should be classified as split areca nuts. The dispute concerned four consignments imported...
CESTAT Kolkata Sets Aside Penalty After Authority Relied On Undisclosed Emails, Inapplicable DRI Alerts
The Kolkata Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has set aside a ₹12.59 lakh customs duty demand and an equivalent penalty imposed on an importer for allegedly wrongly claiming preferential duty benefits under the India-Malaysia trade agreement. The tribunal found that the adjudicating authority relied on emails that were neither mentioned in the show-cause notice nor provided to the importer for an explanation. “Moreover, in the adjudication order, the...
CESTAT Hyderabad Says Missing Invoices Alone Do Not Prove Smuggling, Sets Aside Gold Confiscation
On 29 October, the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Hyderabad held that the absence of purchase invoices for gold does not, by itself, establish that the gold was smuggled into India. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Angad Prasad set aside the confiscation of 377.08 grams of gold worth Rs. 19.12 lakh and the penalty of Rs. 3.83 lakh that Customs authorities imposed on Mohammed Abdul Razzak, proprietor of Iqbal Jewellers, under the Customs Act, 1962. The Tribunal...
Different Views On Import Classification Do Not Establish Broker Misconduct: CESTAT New Delhi
On 28 October, the New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that a difference of opinion over the classification of imported goods does not, by itself, establish misconduct by a Customs Broker. A Bench comprising Officiating President Dr. Rachna Gupta and Technical Member P. V. Subba Rao allowed Anubhav Cargo Movers' appeal against the revocation of its Customs Broker licence, forfeiture of its security deposit and imposition of a penalty of Rs....
Exempt Basic Customs Duty Cannot Be Added To Import Value For IGST Calculation: CESTAT Mumbai
The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Mumbai, has ruled that customs duty exempted under an applicable notification cannot be added at the normal tariff rate to the value of imported goods for calculating Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST), where the importer has satisfied the conditions for the exemption.The tribunal found that TGI International was entitled to exemption from Basic Customs Duty (BCD) under Notification No. 19/2015-Customs dated April 1, 2015,...