Reassessment of Custom Duty based on Subsequent Revision Notification is Invalid – Gujarat HC Grants Duty Refund to Adani Wilmar Ltd.
Adani Wilmar Limited, a producer within the Adani Group, was recently given a significant relief by a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court as a result of the Customs Duty modification notification issued in e-Gazette after the payment of the duty to the government. Additionally, the contested reassessment orders for the bills of entry were reversed.
In addition to being in violation of Section 17(5) of the Customs Act of 1962, the petitioner claims that the ruling is silent and unjustified. After the notification was published in the e-Gazette, the reassessment order was passed with regard to the bill of entry. It is important to note that the revision notification was released after it was made available for home use. “It is thus quite clear that when Section 25 of the Act empowers the Central Government to exempt either totally or subject to certain conditions from the whole or any part of the customs duty leviable thereon by a Notification in the Official Gazette, it has also the powers to modify and cancel,” the High Court Bench composed of Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice Nisha M Thakore stated.
Additionally, it was noted that the Customs Act’s authority of reassessment under Section 17(4) could not have been used because the case did not include an inaccurate self-assessment of duty. The Gujarat High Court ruled that the subsequent publishing of the notification was not a basis for re-assessing the obligation because “The duty was correctly assessed at the time of self-assessment in terms of the duty which was in force on that date and at the time.” Following that, the reassessment was reversed along with a directive to return the applicant’s 14% differential payment over the 40% previously determined duty.
Along with the refund, it was also ordered to pay 6% p.a. interest on the Rs. 2,81,77,678/- refund sum from the deposit date to the refund date.
| Case Name : ADANI WILMAR LIMITED vs UNION OF INDIA | ||
| Counsel for Appellant: GUPTA LAW ASSOCIATES ,MR JITENDRA MOTWANI WITH MR PARITOSH R GUPTA | ||
| Counsel for Respondent: MR NIKUNT K RAVAL |
