Madras High Court directs Customs Dept. to Refund of EDD amount within 4 weeks with 6% Interest judge vkj
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Madras High Court directs Customs Dept. to Refund of EDD amount within 4 weeks with 6% Interest Rate [Read Order]
The Madras High Court directed the custom department to refund the Extra Duty Deposit (EDD) amount within 4 weeks with 6% interest rate.
The Customs Department has filed this Writ Appeal aggrieved by the order passed by learned Single Judge allowing the Writ Petition of the Petitioner, M/s.Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited and directing refund of the EDD on the various Bills of Entry of the year 2004 under which the herein forthwith within a period of 4 weeks from today with interest at the rate of 6% from December 17, 2007 till the actual refund and if there is a delay in making the refund of EDD Assessee imported Coal from Indonesia.
The Single Judge held that there is no justification on the part of the Department is delaying the finalization of the provisional Assessment with respect to these Bills of Entry for all these years despite there being Board Circular No.11/2001 dated February 23, 2001 and the Circular dated July 16, 2007 making it beyond the pale of doubt that no Cess or Additional Duty of Customs was leviable on import of Coal in question.
In the said Board’s instruction dated July 16, 2007 as noted by the Single Judge, all the Authorities concerned in various Commissionerateswere directed to finalise the issue with regard to provisional Assessment as early as possible.
The counsel for the Revenue sought to defend the action of the Customs Officials on the ground that some investigation is pending in the Revenue Intelligence and there was some reasonable cause for not finalising the Provisional Assessment with regard the year 2004 and therefore, the refund of EDD could not be made.
The Coram consisting of Justice Vineet Kothari directed the refund of the EDD amount to the Petitioner/ respondent beyond 4 weeks from today, interest at the increased rate of 9% would be payable by the Appellant Department and the excess interest in such case would be recovered from the officer concerned who delays the matter any further.
“We fail to understand the bonafide of the Customs Department to challenge even this kind of innocuous direction of the learned Single Judge while disposing of the Writ Petition and why the Department should file intra-court Appeals just for the sake of litigation. It is not at all justified and strong action that deserves to be taken in this regard as the Government Department cannot be permitted to be a voluntary litigant in the Constitutional Courts especially to challenge the orders of the learned Single Judge without any valid rhyme or reason,” the court said.
