The Delhi High Court has held that no provision under ITC prohibits the import of parts of firearms which can be manufactured locally.
Syndicate Innovations International Limited, the petitioner, a manufacturer of arms has approached the court seeking the release of the Frame and Slideswhich had been imported and withheld by the Customs authorities.
The petitioner holds a valid license for the manufacture of a complete firearm in terms of Form VII which is held and possessed and it did not require any separate license or permission to manufacture or import components or parts of a firearm. It was pointed out that even under the terms of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 and the ITC (HS) Classification, these parts and components are not separately classified and would all fall within the compendious entry of “Parts and accessories of articles of headings 93.01 to 93.04”.
The respondents contended that the parts of a firearm which stand integrated and fitted upon the Slides and Frames which have been imported by the petitioner are classified and envisaged as separate and independent components.
It was incumbent upon the respondents to have established that the additional components and operational parts found fixed to the Frames and Slides were liable to be separately classified and that the ITC (HS) did not envisage a Frame or a Slide being pre-fitted with any additional component.
The ITC(HS) in Heading 9305 compendiously classifies all parts and components of a firearm. No provision of the FTP or the ITC(HS) seems to suggest that the parts which were noticed in the communication of 21 June 2022 are either recognised as independent components under the statutory regime which governs or that the policy of import forbids parts and accessories being imported in a composite form.
Mr Justice Yashwant Varma observed that the respondents failed to establish that under the prevalent import policy, the operational part which was found fitted to the Frames and Slides required permissions to be obtained separately and independently.
Further, the respondents have failed to prove that Frames and Slides as commonly understood or construed in industry or trade circles are not envisaged to be pre-fitted with additional components of a firearm.
Based on the relevant statutory provisions governing the import of parts of firearms, the 1992 Act, the FTP and the ITC(HS), the Court viewed that the restrictive regime relating to the import of firearms comprehends a prohibition in respect of items which are being manufactured locally can’t hold.
The writ petition was allowed and the respondents are consequently directed to release the consignments imported under Bills of Entry Nos. 9037350 and 9038081 dated 09 June 2022.
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