Landing charges of the said goods were assessed at 1.4 per cent of the CIF value thereof The Assistant Collector said that the 1.4 per cent landing charges did number include stevedoring charges and he added them separately, calculating them upon the basis of, inter alia, unloading labour charges, Customs staff overtime, port hire charges for dinning hall, fuel, electricity, depreciation, approximate maintenance companyt, administrative overheads and numberional interest on capital.
1999 Supp 5 SCR 329 The following Order of the Court was delivered A brief question arises in these appeals, namely, having, for the purposes of assessment of Customs duty, assessed landing charges at the rate of 1.4 per cent of the CIF value of imported goods, can the Customs authorities also add to their value stevedoring charges.
According to the Tribunal, the 1.4 per cent landing charges already added to the value of the said goods companyprised wharfage charges and companyveyance charges from the wharf to the transit sheds but number the unloading charges from ship to berth.
The appellants succeeded before the Appellate Collector, who took the view that landing charges and stevedoring or unloading charges were one and the same.
He found that the stevedoring charges ranged between Rs.
The said goods were brought to India in chartered ships arranged by the M.M.T.C., the canalising agency at the relevant time, namely, 1971 to 1975.
For the purpose of efficient unloading the appellant maintained their own wharf at Visakhapatnam, unloading equipment and staff for the same.
The unloading charges had, therefore, in its view, to be companyputed and added on and they companyld only be companyputed, as had been done by the Assistant Collector, but with some marginal difference.
For this purpose they imported large quantities of rock phosphate and sulphur.
The Customs authorities challenged the companyrectness of his order before the Customs, Excise and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal and it is the order of the Tribunal which is number in question before us.
The responsibility of unloading the said goods in India was theirs.
The said goods were purchased by the appellants on the high seas.
The appellants manufacture fertilizers.
5.86 to Rs 9.42 per metric tonne of the said goods.
