judgment

Harjit Singh Bedi, J. –

1.Leave granted.

2.The facts have been taken from SLP) No. 15278/2006.

3.These appeals filed by the Union of India arise out of the following facts : On 6.3.1996 the respondent Shakti LPG Ltd. imported 1714.5 MT of boiler steel plates worth Rs. 4.79 crores claiming that the said goods would be utilized for the extension of their storage terminal at Kakinada. As the said import could be entitled to a concessional rate of duty on the production of the appropriate certificates which were then not available with the importer, the goods were warehoused in one of the bonded godowns of the Central Warehousing Corporation on 30th May 1996 for an initial period of one year. The respondent thereafter applied for the extension of the warehousing period which was allowed by the Commissioner, Customs on 5th September 1997 upto 31st March 1998. A security deposit of about Rs.10, 00,000/- and an advance customs duty of about Rs.98, 00,000/- were deposited with the department on 31st March 1998 but the goods were still not cleared. From 1998 till 31st January 2001, several notices were sent to the respondent to clear the goods or to pay the duty and during this period