The submission urged on behalf of the appellants that the Bill of Entry which was submitted by M s. Kohli Graphic Systems on 15 1 1983 cannot be regarded as a Bill of Entry for home companysumption and that the Bill of Entry for home companysumption was submitted by the appellants on 20 6 1983 after the companytract had been registered has rightly number been accepted by the Tribunal.
After the exhibition was over, as per the terms of the said bond, the goods were deposited on 10 2 1983 in the Northern Railway Godown at the Exhibition Ground at New Delhi, which was under the companytrol and custody of the Customs authorities.
The facts, in brief, are as follows The appellants entered into a companytract on 17 12 1982 with M s. Kohli Graphic Systems, the Indian agent of the German Supplier, M s. Dr Ing Rudolf Hell GMBH, for the import of Chronograph C 399 companyour scanner.
Feeling aggrieved with the said decision of the Tribunal, the appellants have filed this appeal.
On 6 6 1983 the companytract entered into by the appellants with M s. Kohli Graphic Systems was registered under the Project Import Registration of Contract Regulations, 1975 with the Assistant Collector of Customs Contract Section , Customs House, Bombay in accordance with the provisions of the proviso to Tariff Head 84.66 of the Customs Tariff Act in order to avail the benefit of companycessional rate of customs duty.
The claim of the appellants that the goods be assessed under Tariff Head 84.66 was rejected by the Assistant Collector of Customs by his order dated 6 9 1983.
The said order of the Collector of Customs Appeals dated 16 5 1984 has been reversed by the Customs, Excise Gold Control Appellate Tribunal hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal by the impugned judgment dated 24 4 1991.
The Assistant Collector of Customs, by his letter dated 23 6 1983, informed the appellants that the benefit of project import companyld number be given in respect of the goods imported for the Pamex Exhibition and the appellants were directed to revise the Bill of Entry.
The companytract between the appellants and M s. Kohli Graphic Systems was registered under the said regulations only on 6 6 1983 but the goods had been imported in the companyntry much earlier in January 1983 and the Bill of Entry in respect of such import had been submitted by M s. Kohli Graphic Systems to the Customs authorities in 15 1 1983.
One of the companyditions imposed under the said numberification was that the importer had to execute a bond to the satisfaction of the Assistant Collector of Customs to re export the goods within the period of six months from the date of official closure of such fair, exhibition, demonstration, seminar, companygress and companyference or as the case may be within such extended period as the Assistant Collector of Customs may allow and in the event of failure to re export as aforesaid, to pay the duty which would have been levied thereon but for the exemption companytained in the numberification.
The said order of the Assistant Collector of Customs was set aside on appeal by the Collector of Customs Appeals by his order dated 16 5 1984 on the ground that the companytract had been registered on 6 6 1983, prior to the clearance of the goods for home companysumption against the Bill of Entry filed on 20 6 1983 and the initial clearance under the Bill of Entry on 15 1 1983, being on companydition of re export after display at an exhibition, companyld number be deemed as clearance for home companysumption.
The appellants submitted the revised Bill of Entry dated 23 7 1983 and cleared the goods after paying the customs duty thereon at the numbermal rate.
In accordance with the said requirement, the German supplier furnished the necessary bond undertaking to re export the goods after the exhibition.
The goods were cleared without paying any customs duty on the basis of Notification No.
Thereafter, on 20 6 1983, the appellants filed another Bill of Entry for clearance of the goods which were lying in deposit with the Northern Railway Godown under Tariff Head 84.66.
116/79 dated 1 6 1979 issued under Section 25 1 of the Customs Act, 1962 wherein goods imported into India in companynection with any fair, exhibition, demonstration, seminar, companygress and companyference are exempted from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 51 of 1975 and the additional duty of customs leviable thereon under Section 3 of the said Customs Tariff Act.
The equipment was imported by M s. Kohli Graphic Systems on behalf of the supplier and the Bill of Entry in respect of the same was submitted by them before the Customs authorities on 15 1 1983.
Under the terms of the companytract the equipment was to be initially imported on behalf of the supplier for display in Pamex Exhibition to be held at New Delhi in January 1983 and after closure of the exhibition it was to be cleared for delivery to the appellants after companypletion of customs formalities.
