CUSTOMS, EXCISE & SERVICE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL NEW DELHI PRINCIPAL BENCH- COURT NO. I CUSTOMS APPEAL No. 54730 of 2023 (Arising out of Order-in-Original No. 115/AKS/2021 dated 28.08.2021 passed by the Assistant Commissioner (Refund) of Customs, Air Cargo Complex(Imports), New Customs House, New Delhi)

M/s Nikon India Pvt Ltd, .…Appellant Plot No.-71, Sector-32, Institutional Area, Gurugram, Haryana - 122001 Versus Assistant Commissioner of Customs, .…Respondent Refund Section, Near IGI Airport, New Customs House, New Delhi- 110037 APPEARANCE Shri V. Lakshmikumaran, Shri Dhruv Matta and Shri Shobhit Jain, advocates for the appellant Shri PRV Ramanan, special counsel , and Shri Rakesh Kumar, authorised representative of the department CORAM :

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DILIP GUPTA, PRESIDENT HON’BLE MS. HEMAMBIKA R. PRIYA, MEMBER (TECHNICAL)

Date of Hearing : 09.04.2026 Date of Decision : 27.04.2026 FINAL ORDER NO. 50794/2026 JUSTICE DILIP GUPTA:

M/s Nikon India Pvt. Ltd.¹ has filed this appeal to assail that portion of the order dated 27.01.2023 passed by the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals)² that has denied interest to the appellant on the amount deposited by the appellant pursuant to directions issued by the Supreme Court in the pending Civil Appeal filed by the appellant against the decision of the Tribunal.

2. The appeal was filed by the appellant before the Commissioner (Appeals) to assail the order dated 28.08.2021 that was passed by the Assistant Commissioner (Refund)³ while deciding the refund claimed by the appellant of an amount of Rs. 1,23,53,68,897/- with

1. the appellant

2. the Commissioner (Appeals) 3. the Assistant Commissioner interest. This amount included an amount of Rs. 90,84,11,091/- deposited by the appellant towards the pre-deposit at the time of filing the earlier before this Tribunal and an amount of Rs. 1,13,69,57,806/- deposited by the appellant pursuant to the directions contained in the interim order dated 03.01.2019 of the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 1832 of 2018 filed by the appellant. The Assistant Commissioner sanctioned the amount of Rs. 1,23,53,68,897/- but denied interest to the appellant. The appellant had, therefore, filed an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) to claim interest on the said amount. The Commissioner (Appeals) granted interest to the appellant on the amount of pre-deposit but denied payment of interest to the appellant on the amount deposited by the appellant pursuant to the directions issued by the Supreme Court.

3. This appeal has, therefore, been filed with a prayer that a direction be issued to the respondent to pay interest to the appellant on the amount of Rs. 1,13,69,57,806/- deposited by the appellant in terms of the directions contained in the order dated 03.01.2019 of the Supreme Court.

4. It transpires from the records that during the period from March 2012 to February 2014, the appellant had imported various models of ‘Digital Still Image Video Cameras’ and claimed exemption under a Notification 25/2005-CUS dated 01.03.2005⁴, which was subsequently amended by Notification dated 17.03.2012.

5. Investigation was initiated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence against the imports of ‘Digital Still Image Video Cameras’ made by the appellant and based on the investigation a show cause

4. the Exemption Notification

notice dated 19.08.2014 was issued to the appellant under section 28(4) of the Customs Act, 1962⁵ alleging that the appellant had incorrectly claimed exemption from payment of duty under the Exemption Notification.

6. The appellant submitted a reply to the show cause notice and denied the allegations made therein but an order dated 28.10.2016 was passed by the Additional Director General (Adjudication) confirming the demand proposed in the show cause notice. The appellant filed an appeal before the Tribunal and made the pre- deposit of 7.5% of the duty demanded in terms of section 129E of the Customs Act. The Tribunal, by an order dated 19.12.2017, confirmed t