Supreme Court Dismisses Customs Review Plea Against IndiGo, SpiceJet In IGST Exemption Case On Reimported Aircraft Parts

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed review petitions filed by the Customs Department against its earlier judgment affirming relief granted to InterGlobe Aviation Limited, which operates IndiGo, in a dispute concerning the levy of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on re-import of aircraft and parts sent abroad for repairs.

A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice K.V. Viswanathan condoned the delay but declined to interfere with its earlier decision.

The court held:

“Having carefully gone through the Review Petitions, the order(s) under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in these review petitions, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned.”

The review petitions were accordingly dismissed.

The dispute arose from a batch of 1714 appeals before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi, where InterGlobe Aviation Limited and SpiceJet had challenged orders denying exemption from IGST on re-import of repaired aircraft, engines, and parts.

The principal issue before the tribunal was whether a 2021 amendment to the 2017 exemption notification governing re-import of repaired goods would apply retrospectively from June 30, 2017.

The Customs Authorities had contended that the phrase “duty of customs” in the exemption notification included both Basic Customs Duty and IGST, and therefore IGST was payable on the fair cost of repairs as well as insurance and freight charges. The assessees, on the other hand, argued that only customs duty on the repair value was payable and that exemption from IGST was available on re-import of repaired aircraft and components.

Allowing the appeals by its order dated August 5, 2024, the Tribunal held that integrated tax could not be treated as “duty of customs” under the exemption notification and granted relief to the assessees.

The department's civil appeals were dismissed by the Supreme Court in July 2025, and the subsequent review petitions have now also been rejected, leaving the tribunal's findings undisturbed.