Date of Effect of Notifications
THE Notifications are supposed to come into effect on the date of its issue/publication. The CBEC normally issues notifications in the evening and they are available late in the evening or the next day, but they have come into effect from 0000 hours of the date shown in the notification irrespective of when the public or for that matter the Government officers responsible for implementing them come to know about it.
In the case above, the Customs officers were not aware of the increase in duty when they allowed clearance. They could subsequently recover the enhanced duty, because the assessee was an established Industry. What would happen if the assessee cannot be traced easily? For example, the increase/decrease in tariff value of gold. The notification comes sometime in the evening and the Customs officer in the airport is not aware of it. What do they do when they assess the duty at a lower tariff value and realise that the value has been increased? They don't face this problem, because gold is generally not assessed in the airports!
It would be convenient to everybody if the notification itself specifies an effective date two or three days after issue of the notification. Heavens are not going to fall and coffers are not going to be emptied if the effect of the notification is postponed for a couple of days. Another archaic relic we are not able to get rid of!