2025-VIL-1050-CESTAT-DEL-CU
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CUSTOMS CESTAT Cases

Customs – Refund of Anti-Dumping Duty wrongly paid, Wrong Forum - Section 14 of Limitation Act - Reassessment of Bill of Entry - Appellant imported aluminum foil of 6.3 microns thickness from China and self-assessed the Bill of Entry including Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) due to clerical error, despite the goods being exempted from ADD - Appellant filed applications for reassessment of the Bill of Entry and refund of excess duty - The original adjudicating authority rejected both applications - Whether the appellant was entitled to benefit of Section 14 of Limitation Act for time spent in pursuing reassessment application before the original adjudicating authority which lacked jurisdiction to entertain the same – HELD - The original adjudicating authority improperly forwarded the reassessment application to the appraiser instead of treating it as an appeal under Section 128 of Customs Act. Since reassessment by assessing officer is only possible before goods are cleared for home consumption, and post-clearance the only remedy is appeal, the original authority's rejection on jurisdictional grounds constituted a defect of jurisdiction. The appellant had filed the application in good faith before the original authority, but the authority did not consider itself competent, making it a jurisdictional issue of like nature warranting exclusion of time under Section 14 of the Limitation Act - The time spent in pursuing reassessment application before the original adjudicating authority is ordered to be excluded from limitation period for filing appeal - The amount wrongly added during self-assessment could not acquire character of duty. The present case is materially distinguishable from ITC Ltd. decision as the appellant had duly complied with the requirement of challenging assessment by filing reassessment application, but was denied relief on procedural grounds despite substantive validation of the claim -The impugned order rejecting refund claim is set aside and the appeal was allowed, directing grant of refund of excess duty paid - Whether refund claim filed by appellant without getting self-assessed Bill of Entry modified through appellate process was rightly rejected based on Supreme Court decisions in Priya Blue Industries and ITC Ltd. cases – HELD – Under the Customs Act provisions, remedy of seeking refund of excess paid duty is available to importers. The appellant had simultaneously filed both reassessment and refund applications, complying with the mandate of ITC decision. The original adjudicating authority failed to properly exercise jurisdiction and rejected the reassessment request on procedural grounds rather than merits - the substantive rights should not be defeated by procedural defects that are capable of being cured. The excess payment of ADD was apparent from the Bill of Entry itself since Notification No. 51/2021 exempted aluminum foil of 6.3 microns from ADD. The amount wrongly added during self-assessment could not acquire character of duty, and under Article 265 of Constitution, the authority cannot retain amounts not legally due. The present case is materially distinguishable from ITC Ltd. decision as the appellant had duly complied with the requirement of challenging assessment by filing reassessment application, but was denied relief on procedural grounds despite substantive validation of the claim.
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