Sea Customs Act, 1878

The State of Karnataka auctioned the right to retail vend arrack and declared Saveen Kumar Shetty the highest bidder. He deposited the required amount under Rule 13 but failed to furnish security under Rule 17 and to execute the lease deed required by Rule 16. After extending his temporary licence, the Government cance…

Organon (India) Ltd., later known as Infer (India) Ltd., obtained a wholesale licence for poppy husks in Madhya Pradesh and entered into a contract to export 1,000 tonnes to the Netherlands. The company sought a permit from the Collector of Excise, Mandsaur, to move the husks to Bombay for export, claiming that no exci…

The appellant owned the vessel M.V. Indian Resolve which arrived at Calcutta carrying a mixed cargo that included 1,22,400 cigarettes. A shortage of 45,000 cigarettes was later discovered, and the Additional Collector of Customs invoked Section 115(1)(e) of the Customs Act, 1962 to confiscate the vessel, deeming the mi…

The Supreme Court examined whether a civil suit challenging a property tax assessment under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 is maintainable. The appellant, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, argued that Sections 169 and 171 of the Act provide a specific appeal route to the Municipal Taxation Tribunal and conf…

Chowgule & Co. Private Ltd. and V.S. Dempo & Co. imported second‑hand tankers that were converted into transhippers for topping‑up iron ore at Mormugao harbour. The Customs authorities demanded that the companies file Bills of Entry for the vessels, treating them as "goods for home consumption" under s.46 of the Custom…

TVS Motors Ltd., a manufacturer of two‑wheeled vehicles, sold its cars to dealers who performed pre‑delivery inspection (PDI) and free after‑sales service (ASS) at their own cost. The Central Excise Department sought to include the costs of PDI and ASS in the assessable value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act, …

The petitioner, Mohan Meakin Breweries, challenged a fresh demand for the difference of excise duty on its stock of Indian‑made foreign liquor as on 1 Nov 1967. The demand was based on a proviso added by a 1971 ordinance to Section 28 of the Bihar & Orissa Excise Act, 1915, which allowed the State to realise the differ…

Toolsidass Jewraj, a jute exporter, entered into contracts for shipment in early 1962 but delayed the shipment to June after prices rose. Before the goods were shipped, it filed shipping bills and G.R. forms that undervalued the FOB price, intending to discount the buyers' profit and remit it covertly. The Additional C…

Two foreign trawlers chartered by an Indian company were seized for fishing in India's exclusive economic zone in violation of a permit that required fishing at depths greater than 40 fathoms. The masters were convicted and fined, while the charterer company and its managing director were initially acquitted but later …

Shroff & Co., a partnership dealing in wines and spirits, imported liquor into Bombay and stored it in a bonded warehouse under the Maharashtra Foreign Liquor (Storage in Bond) Rules. The appellants challenged the inclusion of countervailing duty in the assessable value for octroi, arguing that the duty was not incurre…

Crown Re‑roller (P) Ltd., a re‑rolling mill in Orissa, purchased iron and steel scrap from registered dealers. The State of Orissa, under an industrial policy, exempted raw material purchases from sales tax, but a 1989 notification shifted the taxable event to the first point of sale. The company claimed a refund of sa…

The Commissioner of Central Excise valued specially denatured spirits (SDS) supplied by M/s J.R. Organics Ltd. by taking the highest price of SDS at another unit on a particular date, invoking Rule 6(p)(ii) of the Central Excise Rules, 1994. The assessee challenged this, arguing that the value should be based on the mo…