CESTAT upholds Refund Sanction Order as Order for Amendment in Bills of Entry had Attained Finality [Read Order]

The Delhi bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) upheld the order that granted refund when order for amendment in bills of entry had attained finality.

The issue to be decided was whether refund can be claimed by the respondent on Bills

of Entry amended under Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962.

M/s Lava International Limited imported mobile phones with accessories, filing 447 Bills of Entry from May to July 2014. The self-assessment under Section 17 classified goods under CTH 85171290. Additional Customs Duty (CVD) at 6%/12.50% was paid. The importer didn’t claim exemption under Sl. No. 263A.

S.K. Rahman, counsel for the appellant, raised objections to the re-assessment of self-assessed Bills of Entry from 2014, conducted in 2018, after four years from the Bill of Entry date. The officer later termed it an “amendment under Section 149,” contradicting refund sanctions. The representative argued that the manual re-assessment lacked proper approval and violated Board instructions.

Referring to the ITC judgment, he contended that once self-assessed, the officer cannot re-assess. He highlighted time-bar in issues, errors in refund orders, and urged remanding the case for a fair review.

Rachit Jain & Shri Ashwini Bhatia, Advocates for the Respondent, argued that the Supreme Court settled the matter favorably for importers in the SRF Ltd. case.

Following the judgment, the respondent sought re-assessment of Bills of Entry, which was finalized in 2018 and accepted by Customs authorities. Four refund applications were approved. The counsel emphasized the issue’s resolution in the respondent’s favor in a similar case, asserting the rightful refund claim adhering to Customs Act provisions and ITC Limited decision. The counsel highlighted the importance of self-assessment and the applicable provisions for modification and refund.

The two member bench of the tribunal comprising Binu Tamta (Judicial) Member and Hemambika R. Priya (Technical) Member concluded that the aforementioned order of the tribunal had reached its conclusive stage and in result, the appeals filed by the revenue were dismissed.

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