A Division Bench of the Bombay HC comprising Justice K R Shriram and Justice A S Doctor held that Bills of Entry can be amended by submission of documents used for customs clearance and permitted the petitioner, Hindustan Unilever Limited to amend the bills submitted under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The bills of entry as filed by the petitioner had erroneously given a particular Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), whereas it should be some other GSTIN. The petitioner also submitted that The Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) was taken by petitioner in the importing State, i.e., in Maharashtra, where the goods were imported into and duly reflected in the appropriate GSTR-3B returns filed in the State of Maharashtra. It is the petitioner’s case that it has not taken any ITC of IGST based on such bills of entry in the State of Himachal Pradesh where the plant is located or at any other location.
Upon realisation of the error, the petitioner applied for amendment under Section 149 of the Customs Act to rectify the errors. The application was rejected by the respondent Customs Commissionerate on the ground that the GST Laws does not permit such amendment post clearance from Customs under Section 149 of the said Act.
The Court, upon perusal of the impugned order and documentary evidence submitted by the petitioner, observed that, if the goods have been cleared for home consumption, which in this case has been, the proper officer has to only consider the documentary evidence which was in existence at the time the goods were cleared and nothing more. There is nothing to indicate in the impugned order that petitioner had not submitted the documentary evidence which was in existence at the time the goods were cleared.
In light of the observations made as per the Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1949, it was held that, there cannot be any impediment to grant petitioner’s request for amending the bills of entry and the impugned order was set aside.
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