CCE & ST v. Sanjivani Non-Ferrous Trading (P) Ltd.

CUSTOMS ACT, 1962

--Valuation--Deemed valueBills of Entry --Transaction value/assessable value--Assessable value has to be arrived at on the basis of the price which was actually paid and in a case the price is not sole consideration then the declared price could be rejected only with cogent reasons by Assessing Authority. Since there was no such exercise done by Assessing Authority to reject the price declared in the Bills of Entry, therefore, Order-in-Original was clearly erroneous and appeal of Revenue was rejected--Assessee had imported various varieties of Aluminum scrap and filed 843 Bills of Entry along with invoices and purchase orders in respect therein declaring the transaction value of the imported goods for the purpose of paying custom duty. Declared value was not accepted by AO who found the same to be low. Accordingly, the said declared value was rejected and reassessment was done by increasing assessable value. Assessee filed appeal before High Court who directed the DCCE to provide reasons to reject the transaction value as declared by assessee and enhancing the same by taking into consideration the value of imported goods. Held: Normal rule is that assessable value has to be arrived at on the basis of the price which is actually paid. Assessable value has to be arrived at on the basis of the price which was actually paid and in a case the price is not sole consideration then the declared price could be rejected only with cogent reasons by undertaking the exercise as to on what basis Assessing Authority held that the paid price was not the sole consideration of the transaction value. Since there was no such exercise done by Assessing Authority to reject the price declared in the Bills of Entry, the Order-in-Original was clearly erroneous and rejected the appeal of Revenue.