Tag: #FTP

  • CESTAT Hyderabad Quashes Rs. 63 Crore Demand on Diamond India Ltd for Gold Replenishment under FTP

    CESTAT Hyderabad Quashes Rs. 63 Crore Demand on Diamond India Ltd for Gold Replenishment under FTP

    Date: 15.05.2025

    The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) delivered a landmark ruling in a batch of appeals involving Diamond India Ltd (DIL), Bullionline LLP, Jurassic Refiners & Jewels Pvt Ltd, and their officials. The dispute revolved around the replenishment of duty-free gold under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015–20, alleging violations of Notification No. 57/2000-Cus.

    The exporters Bullionline LLP and Jurassic Refiners exported gold jewellery (kadas) and received duty-free gold from DIL, a DGFT-nominated agency, under the FTP’s replenishment scheme. DRI alleged:

    • The jewellery was not manufactured through the fully mechanized process as claimed (which would require only 2% value addition), but rather semi-mechanized, requiring 3.5% value addition.
    • The exporters used notional values and misdeclared making charges to falsely show compliance.
    • DIL failed to conduct due diligence before releasing replenishment gold, leading to duty evasion of β‚Ή63.74 crore.

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  • CESTAT New Delhi- The reassessment was held to be invalid and legally unsustainable

    CESTAT New Delhi- The reassessment was held to be invalid and legally unsustainable

    Date: 03.05.2025

    The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Principal Bench, New Delhi, ruled in favour of M/s Trina Steelcarb Pvt. Ltd., setting aside a reassessment order that enhanced the assessable value of imported goods without issuing a speaking order as mandated under Section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962.

    1. Violation of Section 17(5): The Tribunal found that the assessing officer failed to issue a speaking order despite the reassessment being contrary to the importer’s declared self-assessment and without written acceptance. Section 17(5) mandates issuance of a speaking order within 15 days in such cases.

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  • CESTAT Hyderabad Upholds DFIA Exemption on Lithium-Ion Battery Imports

    CESTAT Hyderabad Upholds DFIA Exemption on Lithium-Ion Battery Imports

    Date: 21.04.2025

    The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Hyderabad Bench – Court No. I has dismissed the Department’s appeal and upheld the exemption granted to M/s Olectra Greentech Ltd. for import of Lithium-ion batteries under a Transferable DFIA (Duty-Free Import Authorisation) scheme.

    • Olectra Greentech imported lithium-ion cells under a DFIA license issued against exports of Agricultural Tractors.
    • The customs department denied the benefit of exemption under Notification No. 25/2023-Cus dated 01.04.2023, stating that lithium-ion batteries do not match the export input description of “automotive batteries.”
    • The Commissioner (Appeals) had earlier ruled in favor of Olectra, prompting a departmental appeal.

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  • CESTAT Kolkata Rejected Customs attempt to apply two different transaction values

    CESTAT Kolkata Rejected Customs attempt to apply two different transaction values

    Date: 18.04.2025

    The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Kolkata Bench (Court No. 2) has dismissed the Revenue’s appeal against M/s Kiran Trading Company, thereby upholding the order of the Commissioner (Port), Kolkata, which had dropped proceedings initiated under a DRI show cause notice.

    1. The Revenue appealed against the Order-in-Original dated 23.10.2018, which dropped charges of mis-declaration of value and evasion of Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) on imports of Chinese-origin Melamine by M/s Kiran Trading Company. ​
    2. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) alleged over-invoicing to evade ADD, based on investigations and analysis of import patterns.

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