IMPORTANT POINT
The court ruled that acceptance of enhanced valuation under duress does not waive the right to contest the assessment, emphasizing the need for proper justification and communication of reasons by the customs authorities.

JUDGMENT :

Yashwant Varma, J.

I. BACKGROUND

1. The instant appeals raise a challenge to the decision rendered by the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, [CESTAT] holding that the appellants, having conceded to the valuation undertaken by the proper officer as contemplated under Section 17(5) of the Customs Act, 1962, [Act], would have no right to question or assail such assessment and would also be deemed to have waived their right to question that decision by resorting to the statutory remedies otherwise available under the Act. The lead appeal CUSAA 27/2022 came to be admitted by us on 03 August 2022 on the following question of law :

"Whether the Tribunal misdirected itself in holding that the appellants in the above-mentioned matter could not question the enhancement made concerning the valuation of the imported goods, once the appellants had given up their right to seek issuance of a show cause notice and/or speaking order under Section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962?"

2. In the course of hearing this batch, we had also designated CUSAA 126/2022 as one of the appeals which would be examined and pursuant to which learned counsels for respective sides had also addressed elaborate submissions on the said appeal. We thus, for the purposes of disposal of this batch, deem it appropriate to notice the facts as they obtain in the aforenoted two appeals.

3. The appellant in CUSAA 27/2022 had imported polyester knitted fabrics of different weights during the period November 2018 to April 2019. Those imports were affected on the basis of 27 Bills of Entry, [BoE] which were submitted. The respondents appear to have disputed the 'declared value' of the imported goods on the basis of contemporaneous import data obtained from the National Import Database, [NIDB]. It is the case of the appellant that since the clearance of the goods was being inordinately delayed, it was compelled to pay differential customs duty on the enhanced value as computed by the proper officer. It is further alleged that the appellant was compelled and coerced into voluntarily relinquishing its right to receive a speaking order as contemplated under Section 17(5) of the Act.

4. Post the BoE being reassessed, the appellant preferred first appeals before the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals). The first appellate authority by a common order disposed of 27 appeals filed by the appellant holding that the mere clearance of goods at a higher value would not deprive the assessee of the right to institute a statutory appeal and that NIDB data alone could not have constituted the basis for enhancing the value of the imported goods. It was this order of the first appellate authority which was challenged by the respondents before the CESTAT.

5. The CESTAT in terms of the order impugned has essentially held that once the appellant had come to accept the enhanced valuation of the imported goods and waived its right of adjudication, it could not have challenged the reassessment by preferring appeals before the first appellate authority. It has consequently proceeded to set aside the order of the first appellate authority dated 26 April 2019 and allowed the appeals that were preferred by the respondents.

6. The facts of CUSAA 126/2022 proceed along similar lines. The appellant in that appeal had filed 8 BoE between 8 February 2019 and 15 February 2019 in respect of the import of two lots of polyester knitted fabrics and non-textured polyester fabric. The 'declared value' as appearing on those BoE came to be doubted