BIRLA ERICSSON LTD. Vs. DESIGNATED AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPELLANTS in all these appeals challenge Notification issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance on 28th June, 2000 imposing Anti -dumping duty on Optical Fibre originating in or exported form Korea.

(2.) M /s. Sterlite Industries Ltd. filed written application before the Designated Authority constituted in terms of Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti -dumping duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995 (hereinafter referred as the Rules) for initiating investigation to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping of Optical Fibre originating in or exported from South Korea. On the basis of that application, Authority issued a Public Notice dated 1st July, 1999 in the Gazette of India initiating Anti -dumping investigation. In response to that notification and the questionnaire sent by the Designated Authority, appellants herein and others furnished details. Authority also conducted on the spot investigation. Preliminary Findings arrived at by the Authority were notified in the Gazette dated 5 -11 -1999. After completing the further investigations, the Designated Authority got its Final Findings notified in the Gazette dated 14th June, 2000.

(3.) THE above argument of Counsel representing the appellants is solely based on the exclusion contained in Rule (b) of the Rules, which defines domestic industry. After stating that domestic industry means domestic producers whose collective output of the article constitutes a major portion of the total domestic production, certain categories are excluded therefrom. The categories excluded are those domestic producers who are related to exporters of the alleged dumped article, those who are related to importers of the alleged dumped article or those who themselves are importers thereof. What is the scope of the words "importers thereof - This group of domestic producers who are importers thereof are to be grouped along with domestic producers related to exporters of the alleged dumped article and domestic producers related to importers of the alleged dumped article. So taken, the domestic producers who are themselves importers should mean domestic producers who are themselves importers of alleged dumped article. In other words, domestic producers who are not importers of alleged dumped article from the subject country are not to be excluded from the definition of "domestic industry."