ORDER :

Civil Appeal Nos. 7801-7811 of 2004

1. The respondents herein are engaged in the export and import of various edible oils. They have been importing edible oils in bulks through various ports throughout the country. The respondent had imported RBD Palmolein which had arrived at the port of destination and the same were cleared after payment of import duty of 85 per cent of its value. This import duty was paid pursuant to the notification which was in existence as on that date. The respondent had even removed major quantity of the goods under the aforesaid consignment from the warehouse after payment of the duty in the manner aforesaid. However, when it wanted to remove the balance quantity, the same was denied. Thereafter, a notice was received by the respondent which was issued by the appellant stating that with effect from 03.08.2001 (incidentally this is the date on which the bill of entry was filed and goods were cleared by the respondent as aforesaid), the tariff value in respect of RBD Palmolein had been raised to USD 372 per metric ton and therefore, the respondent was liable to pay the difference in the tariff which was paid on the basis of earlier notification. The re