MOHAN SALES (INDIA) Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, ICD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals challenge assessment of imported goods to Customs duty after enhancing their declared value. The factual particulars of declared value, enhanced assessable value etc. are available in the table reproduced below :

(2.) The imported goods in question are mostly consumer goods like blank video tapes, dry battery. Most of these imported goods were required to be marked with Maximum Retail Price (MRP) in terms of Notification No. 44 (R -2000) dated 24 -11 -2000 of the Director General of Foreign Trade. Therefore, those pieces had been affixed with stickers showing their MRP. While increasing the declared value for the purpose of assessing the goods to duty on ad valorem basis, the Customs Assessing Authority also enhanced (sympathetically) the declared MRP.

(3.) The appellants have challenged the orders of the assessing authority on the ground that valuation and assessment undertaken are entirely contrary to the legal provisions relating to valuation of imported goods and the decision of the Apex Court. It is their contention that the values declared by them were the transaction values at which the goods had been purchased from abroad and in terms of Rule 4 of Customs Valuation Rules, the transaction values are required to be accepted for the purpose of assessment of goods to duty. The appellants have also the grievance that rejection of transaction value has been done without indication of the reason for it and enhancement of assessable value has been done without indicating what is the basis. Further, the normal procedure of issuing Show -Cause Notice, disclosing the basis for the enhanced value to the importer etc. have also not been followed. They have also submitted that the Commissioner (Appeals) was entirely in error in holding that the appellants had agreed to the enhanced valuation and to that extent the order was a consent order or that the importer had voluntarily accepted the correctness of the loaded value.