ORDER

1. The appellants made an application for registration of the contract dated 25-6-1981 for import of one 200 metric tonnes self- propelled vehicle from Italy. They sought clearance of goods against import licence dated 18-6-1981. The vehicle was required for transporting 100 MVA transformers from railway station to the sites of 7 sub-stations set up by the appellants at various places in the States of Punjab and Haryana. The Assistant Collector of Customs rejected the application holding that the vehicle proposed to be imported was mainly required for transportation of transformers from the railway yards to the erection sites and had no relation to power generation or power project. He was, therefore, of the opinion that the import clearly fell outside the scope of project import. The appellants therefore had to clear the vehicle on payment of duty as assessed by the Customs House which duty was paid under protest. In appeal, the Collectors order was confirmed by the Appellate Collector. The Appellate Collector held that the vehicle was not meant for any single project and was intended to be used only to facilitate movement of transformers and hence could not be considered to