Commissioner of Customs (Import-I) Vs Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (CESTAT Mumbai)
SEO Title: CESTAT Mumbai Allows Helicopter Parts Customs Exemption; Revenue Appeals Dismissed
Summary: CESTAT Mumbai decided three connected customs appeals concerning Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL), applying the first-case/first-citation identity of Commissioner of Customs (Import-I) Vs Navayuga Engineering Company Limited. The dispute concerned use of EPCG, SFIS and SHIS benefits, treatment of NECL and Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) as “group companies”, adjustment of KPCL’s port-handling earnings towards NECL’s export obligation, and exemption for imported helicopter parts. The Tribunal held that NECL and KPCL satisfied the Foreign Trade Policy definition of “group company” and noted that DGFT had expressly clarified their status. It therefore sustained the adjudicating authority’s dropping of the Revenue’s demands relating to use of the group company’s scrips and export earnings.
The Tribunal further held that helicopter parts used in helicopters deployed in connection with infrastructure projects could qualify as capital goods for the relevant service-sector business. It distinguished “private use” in the DGCA regulatory context from “personal use” and concluded that the imported parts were eligible for customs duty exemption under Notification No. 91/2009-Customs dated 11.09.2009. Independently, it held that the extended period under Section 28(4) was unavailable because the group-company issue had already been disclosed to and clarified by DGFT and was known to the customs authorities. Accordingly, the confirmed duty demand, confiscation, redemption fine and penalties relating to helicopter parts were set aside; NECL’s appeal was allowed with consequential relief, while the Revenue’s appeals were dismissed.
