BIOCON LIMITED REPRESENTED BY S R SUNDARESH VICE PRESIDENT-COMMERCIAL Vs. JOINT SECRETARY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has challenged the legality of the order dated 12.05.2016, passed by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India, whereby the learned Joint Secretary has dismissed the revision application filed by the petitioner under Section 35 EE of the Central Excise Act, 1944 ("the Act", for short) against the order dated 05.03.2012, passed by the Central Excise, Large Tax Payer Unit, Bangalore.

(2.) Briefly the facts of the case are that the petitioner is engaged in the manufacture of excisable goods falling under Chapters 28, 29, and 35 of First Schedule to the Central Excise, Tariff Act, 1985. The petitioner has an in-house Research & Development Unit (R & D Unit), which is duly registered with the Government of India, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi. The petitioner has imported certain capital goods, mainly research and development equipments. The petitioner had imported certain R & D goods on concessional rate of customs duties vide Customs Exemption Notification dated 01.03.2005. The customs notifications either exempts payment of basic custom duty, or reduces basic custom duty which is payable. The petitioner further claims that the R & D equipments so imported, in terms of the above custom exemption notifications at concessional rates, was used for R & D purposes.

(3.) Subsequently, the petitioner set up a unit at Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at No.2, 3, 4 & 5, 'Biocon Park', Bommasandra Jigani Link Road, Biocon Special Economic Zone, Bommasandra Industrial Area, Bengaluru-9. The R & D Unit at 'Biocon Park' was also registered with the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. After some time, the petitioner proposed to shift the imported R & D equipment/goods from its DTA-R & D unit to the SEZ-R & D unit. Accordingly, the petitioner intimated the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, about shifting of some of the R & D equipments to SEZ for research and development purposes. Thereafter, the petitioner also applied to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi ("DSIR", for short), for its approval to shift the equipment from non-sales unit to the sales unit. The said approval was duly granted by the DSIR.