The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ( CESTAT ), allowed conversion from free shipping bills to Advance Authorization shipping bills on fulfilment of conditions on Board Circular.
The only issue, therefore, to be decided by me is: whether the Revenue is justified in rejecting the request of the appellant, M/s. Fuso Glass India Private Limitedfor conversion of free shipping bills into Advance Authorization shipping bills for the reasons of limitation as well as non-fulfilment of conditions of paragraph 3(b)(c)(d) of the Board Circular No. 36/2010.
After fulfilling its export obligation, the appellant filed an application with the Zonal Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for the issuance of Export Obligation Discharge Certificate (EODC), in response to which the Assistant Director General of Foreign Trade appears to have issued a deficiency letter calling for the submission of bank realization certificates in respect of exports made by the appellant.
It is the case of the appellant that they responded to the documents and that the DGFT did not issue EODC, but however, the Joint Commissioner of Customs, after issuing a Show Cause Notice, passed an order demanding Customs duty for non-fulfilment of export obligation.
Against this order, the appellant filed a Writ Petition before theHigh Court of Madras, wherein the DGFT filed a counteraffidavit by contending that the application filed by the appellant for issuance of EODC was defective. The appellant, after withdrawing the above Writ Petition, chose to file an application seeking conversion of the above four free shipping bills into Advance Authorization shipping bills.
Shipping Bill No. 8272820 reflects the file number, since as on the date of the said shipping bill, the appellant had not received the physical copy of the Advance Authorization. The same is the case with respect to the other three shipping bills which are in dispute, as well. By this, it is clear that the appellant, having requested for Advance Authorization, had filed the shipping bills in anticipation of their Advance Authorization.
The Tribunal of P Dinesha, Judicial Member observed that “The denial of conversion from free shipping bills to Advance Authorization shipping bills by the lower authority and the impugned order, being bad in law, are set aside.”
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