The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), set aside order as to non-filing of Country of Origin Certificate, on non-verification of Bill of Entry.
The appellants, M/s. The Timberland imported Plantation Teak Logs from Malaysia but inadvertently did not claim BCD exemption available for import of goods under CTH 4401 to 4410 from Malaysia, under Serial number 574 of Notification No. 53/2011-Cus. dated 01.07.2022.
It is the case of the appellant that by mistake Serial number was mentioned as 577 and accordingly the system did not allow the exemption. Thereafter, the appellant filed a letter requesting for recalling of the Bill of Entry and for amending the same under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, but however, the same was not acceded to by the concerned authorities.
The Bill of Entry was thereafter assessed, the appellant preferred to file an appeal before the First Appellate Authority, but however, the First Appellate Authority also having rejected the appellant’s appeal, the present appeal has been filed before the forum.
The Counsel for the appellant, Manickan N contended that the order has been passed without properly verifying the documents placed by the appellant and hence, according to the appellant, there was no scope for the first appellate authority to hold that the appellant did not submit the Country of Origin Certificate.
The Counsel also seriously contended that during the course of personal hearing before the first appellate authority, the Commissioner (Appeals) never asked for the Country of Origin Certificate and hence requests for remanding the matter to enable the appellant to furnish the Country of Origin Certificate, once again to the satisfaction of the appellate authority, for passing an appropriate order.
The Tribunal of P Dinesha, Judicial Member held that “Without going into or looking into the Bill of Entry, the first appellate authority has given a wrong finding as to the non-filing of the Country of Origin Certificate. In view of the above, I am of the view that the impugned order has to be set aside.”
The Tribunal also directed the First Appellate Authority to pass a speaking order after considering the Bill of Entry and other supporting documents if any that may be filed by the appellant.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
