#Customs Exemption

CESTAT Kolkata invalidates DGFT's use of public notices to impose actual user conditions on Transferable Duty-Free Import Authorizations, affirming that only notifications issued in the Official Gazette have legal force to amend Foreign Trade Policy terms. This ruling protects importers and transferees from retroactive administrative overreach and reinforces the hierarchy of delegated legislation under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act.

CESTAT Hyderabad denied customs duty exemption to Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital for failing to fulfill mandatory conditions: providing free treatment to 40% of outpatients and reserving 10% of beds for low-income patients. The ruling reinforces that exemption benefits are strictly conditional, and non-compliance triggers retrospective duty demand and confiscation - a critical warning for charitable hospitals relying on duty waivers.

CESTAT rules that failure to meet a procedural condition under a customs exemption notification does not automatically trigger duty demand, provided the underlying objective of the condition has been achieved. This shields compliant importers from punitive demands when technical lapses don't undermine the exemption's intent, reinforcing proportionality in customs enforcement.

CESTAT Chennai rules that importers acting in good faith on government-issued Certificates of Origin cannot be held liable for discrepancies in value addition claims. The Department must conduct its own statutory verification under the Interim Rules of Origin before denying preferential duty benefits, protecting importers from retrospective penalties based on unverified foreign data.

CESTAT Mumbai rules that Special Additional Duty (SAD) exemption under Notification 45/2005 applies to stock transfers from Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) to Domestic Tariff Areas (DTA) even if VAT is payable on final sale. The tribunal also bars invocation of the extended limitation period without legal basis, reinforcing compliance clarity for importers and manufacturers.