No Denial of Exemption by hairsplitting and semantic niceties: SC
THE Supreme Court recently upheld an order of the CESTAT wherein the CESTAT had observed,
The case of the Revenue is that at the time of importation the required Certificate was not produced. The objection of the Revenue that at the time of import, the Certificate was not produced is not a very strong ground for denying the benefit of Notification. There is a plethora of decisions in which various Courts and Tribunals have accepted the production of Certificate even after the importation for granting benefits. The appellant, after representing to the concerned authorities, obtained a Certificate to the effect that the scheme of renovation has been examined thoroughly and approval accorded for the same. The Principal Secretary, Government of Karnataka has also recommended the exemption under the said Notification. The list of spares recommended have also been mentioned. The General Manager of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. has certified that the spares listed in the letter of the appellant are essential for the proper upkeep of the generating units. Once the competent authority is satisfied that the impugned goods are required for renovation, the Customs Department need not go deep into hair splitting and semantic niceties to deny the benefit of Notification.The DRI had taken up the matter with the State Government who have confirmed the approval of the Scheme. Once the scheme is approved by the State Government for the Power Project, in our view, the benefit of exemption Notification cannot be denied.
The Supreme Court agreed with the Tribunal observing, "The Tribunal is quite correct in stating that once these authorities are satisfied that the impugned goods are required for renovation, the customs department does not need to go deep into the matter and by hairsplitting and semantic niceties deny the benefit of the exemption notification. The finding of the Commissioner has been correctly set aside by the Tribunal and hence we dismiss revenue's appeal."
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