D.N. Lal, Member (T)

1. The brief facts of the case as contained in the Memorandum of Appeal and as stated during the course of the hearing by Shri Sogani are briefly as follows :

On 15-1-83, the Appellants entered into a contract with M/s. Induscandia Erikson Co. AB (hereafter to be called the foreign supplier) for one Roland RZK.-111 Offset Press with standard equipment. The year of manufacture of the said goods was 1975. The c.i.f. value for the Press along with standard equipment was contracted at Rs. 3,19,200/-. In pursuance of this contract, the appellants opened a letter of credit through Syndicate New Delhi on 25-2-83. At the time of opening of the letter of credit, the goods in question were covered by the O.G.L. under the Import Policy for the year 1982-83. In terms of the letter of credit, date of shipment was stipulated as 15-6-83 and date of negotiation of document as 30-6-83. Later on, vide letter dt. 5-5-83, the foreign supplier informed the appellants that due to difficulties, the goods should be ready for shipment by 30-7-83. Accordingly, they suggested to the appellants to extend the letter of credit to a suitable date. In the alternative, offer was made to s