Case Law Details
Bagadiya Brothers Pvt Ltd Vs Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax (CESTAT Hyderabad)
CESTAT Hyderabad held that confiscation of already exported goods not possible under section 113 of the Customs Act because once the goods are exported, Indian Customs has no control over the goods and therefore, they cannot be confiscated.
Facts- Appellant exported iron ore fines which are subject to export duty at Rs.300 per MT. However, if the Fe content of the iron ore fines is below 62% they are exempted from export duty in excess of Rs.50 per MT by Notification No. 62/2007-Cus dated 13.05.2007. In other words, if the Fe content is above 62%, export duty has to be paid at Rs.300 per MT and if it is below 62%, it has to be paid at Rs.50 per MT.
The exporter filed a shipping bill dated 31.05.2008 claiming the Fe content to be less than 62%. It also enclosed with it a test report from a private testing laboratory viz., Therapeutics Chemical Research Corporation (TCRC) dated 30.05.2008 which indicated the Fe content as 61.03%. The shipping bill was assessed provisionally by the AO subject to execution of a test bond. The conditions of the bond were that the exporter would abide by the test report of the Central Revenue Control Laboratories (CRCL) and if the Fe content is above 62% it would pay the differential export duty. Samples were drawn and sent for testing to the Central Revenue Control Laboratories who sent the test report dated 25.07.2008 stating that the Fe content is 61.15% by weight.
After the goods had left India, the overseas buyer had cancelled the order and the exporter sold the goods to another customer in Hong Kong. At the discharge port, a sample of the iron ore fines was again tested and it was found that the Fe content was 62.11% on dry weight basis.
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