The Supreme Court last week set aside the ruling of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and quashed the levy of anti-dumping duty imposed under a notification dated April 27, 2005. The order was passed in the appeal case, Automative Tyre Manufacturers Association vs Designated Authority (DA). The association represented domestic tyre manufacturing units, who import nylon tyre cord fabric from various countries, including China, as one of their basic raw materials for manufacture of tyres. The tribunal had dismissed the appeals, preferred by the association, Apollo Tyres, J.K. Tyres and Ningbo Nylon of China and confirmed the levy of anti-dumping duty in terms of the notification. It held that taxing is a legislative function and therefore, the DA need not hear the parties before taking action. Overruling this view, the Supreme Court declared that the order passed by the DA “offended the basic principle of natural justice. Therefore, the notification having been issued on the basis of the findings of the DA, who failed to follow the principles of natural justice, cannot be sustained.”
