2026-VIL-51-ORI-CU
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CUSTOMS High Court Cases

Customs - Export duty on iron ore fines, Acceptance of test reports, assessment on wet metric ton (WMT) basis – Respondent-assessee exported iron ore fines and the Customs duty was determined based on the test report of a private NABL accredited agency indicating the iron content (Fe%) to be less than 58% on WMT basis - Customs department rejected this report and relied on the test report of the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL), which showed the Fe% to be more than 58% on dry metric ton (DMT) basis, and accordingly levied export duty. The Respondent's appeal against this was allowed by the Commissioner (Appeals) and the CESTAT - Whether the CRCL test report showing higher Fe% on DMT basis should be relied upon over the private agency's report on WMT basis for the purpose of levying export duty - HELD - The Courts have consistently held that for determining export duty, the Fe% has to be calculated on WMT basis as per the Supreme Court decision in Gangadhar Narsingdas Agrawal case, which was the prevailing legal position at the time of these exports. The final invoice and payments were also based on the WMT Fe% as per the contract between the parties. The CRCL report on DMT basis was therefore not relevant for the purpose of levy of export duty. The CESTAT was justified in relying on the private agency's report on WMT basis over the CRCL report – Further, the questions raised by the Revenue were essentially based on findings of fact and the legal position prevailing at the relevant time. As the legal position is well settled, the questions raised by the Revenue do not involve any "substantial question of law" that would warrant interference by the High Court. The concurrent findings of fact by the lower authorities also could not be disturbed - No "substantial question of law" arose from the CESTAT's order, which had correctly relied on the private agency's report on WMT basis for determining the export duty liability – The Revenue appeal is dismissed
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