JUDGMENT :

S.A. BOBDE, CJI.

1. This batch of statutory appeals (being Civil Appeal Nos. 1827/2018, 1875/2018, 1832/2018 and 3213/2018) under Section 130E of the Customs Act, 1962 arises from a common final order of the Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (‘CESTAT’) dated 19th December 2017 (‘impugned order’).

2. Vide the impugned order an exemption of basic customs duty accorded to the Digital Still Image Video Cameras (‘DSIC’) imported by the Nikon India Pvt. Ltd, Canon India Pvt. Ltd., Sony India Pvt. Ltd. and Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd (hereinafter referred to as ‘appellants’ or ‘importers’), in terms of exemption Notification No. 20/2005 dated 01.03.2005 (as amended by Notification No. 15/2012 dated 17.03.2012) came to be denied and the consequential confiscation of goods, demand of interest and imposition of penalty as provided for under various sections of the Customs Act, 1962, was upheld by the CESTAT.

3. Since the appeals involve common questions, these are being decided together and for sake of convenience we shall be referring to the events which