The Banglore Bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that Hankook off the Road Mining Tyres are not “Restricted”, and no license is required for import.
The appellant, M/s The Tyre Mark had imported 220 numbers of “Hankook off the road mining tyres 31 x 10.5 R 15” and filed a Bill of Entry. They classified the same under CTH 40118080 and claimed benefit of notification No.46/2011-CUS dated 01.06.2011; the appellants claimed that the tyres in question are primarily off road tyres used in mining vehicles such as TATA HITACHI LOADER as well as off roading vehicles like FORCE GURKHA.
The revenue however, in the course of assessment, sought to take a view that the goods in question are required to be classified under CTH. 40111010 as tyres meant for motor cars and cannot be classified under CTH 40118000 and accordingly are “restricted” and a license as per DGFT Notification No.12/2015-2020 dated 12.06.2020, is required for import. A Show Cause Notice dated 09.10.2020, was issued to the appellant seeking reclassification of impugned goods under CTH 4011 1010 and proposing confiscation and penalty.
The coram of Judicial Member, S.K. Mohanty and Technical Member, P. Anjani Kumar held that it is used for replacing the existing tyres whenever the vehicle is used in muddy or off terrain. It can be seen that even Tractors, Dumpers etc. which are primarily designated for off the road used also travel some distances on the road till they reach the place of their use. By no stretch of imagination such vehicles and the tyres thereof can be regarded to be for on-road purposes.
“We also see that the appellants submit that though the vehicles can also be used for roading purposes it would be very bad fuel efficient while creating higher noise levels. Therefore, nobody uses them normally for roading. We also find that the Department opines that the impugned tyres are not of a kind used in vehicles which are used for mining etc. In such circumstances, the alternate claim made by the appellants could hold good. In view of the above, the impugned tyres are required to be considered as special purpose tyres for off-road purposes. For this reason, we find that the impugned order is not maintainable and is liable to be set aside,” the CESTAT ruled.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan AdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
