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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR, P.M.MANOJ
Nitta Gelatin India Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Commissioner of Customs, Kochi – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J.
1. As both these Customs Appeals arise from the same final order dated 12.03.2024 of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Bangalore in Customs Appeal No.20559 of 2018, they are taken up together for consideration and disposed by this common judgment.
2. Customs Appeal No.2 of 2025 is preferred by the assessee whereas Customs Appeal No.5 of 2024 is preferred by the Revenue. The brief facts necessary for disposal of these appeals are as follows:
The assessee M/s.Nitta Gelatin India Limited used to manufacture collagen peptide from Bovine Bone protein. Later, the assessee proposed to manufacture collagen peptides from fish protein. Accordingly, fish protein obtained by decalcification of fish scales were imported from countries like China and Japan. From around April, 2016 however, imports were also made of the same product from countries like Indonesia. It is significant to state that the imports in question were made under cover of advance authorizations that were obtained by the assessee from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade [DGFT] under the scheme of advance authorization introduced by the Government of India to encoura
Mis-declaration of goods does not invalidate imports under the advance authorization scheme if conditions are met, and penalties for past transactions are not warranted.
The customs authorities lack jurisdiction over MEIS benefits granted by DGFT; misclassification does not imply mens rea necessary for imposing penalties under the Customs Act.
The authority of the DGFT in determining fulfillment of export obligations prevails over Customs demands, which cannot contradict DGFT’s issued certificates.
Use of false declarations attracts s.114AA penalty independently of confiscation fine and re-export option; duty liability persists.
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