Bangalore Mono Filaments Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Chennai - Customs Act - Warehouse Clearance
The liability of the assessee to pay customs duty arises upon clearance of the goods from the warehouse: Supreme Court
Customs Act, 1962 - Sections 15 and 68: The liability of the assessee to pay customs duty arises upon clearance of the goods from the warehouse. The expression “clearance from the warehouse” denotes the date on which the goods are actually removed therefrom.
Case Info
Case Information
Case name and neutral citation:M/s Bangalore Mono Filaments Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Chennai & Anr., Civil Appeal No. 877 of 2010 (Supreme Court of India, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction).(Neutral citation is not mentioned in the order.)
Coram
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manmohan and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vipul M. Pancholi.
Judgment Date
Judgment pronounced on 05 February 2026 at New Delhi.
Caselaws and Citations Referred
- Pratibha Processors and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors., (1996) 11 SCC 101.
Statutes / Laws Referred
- Customs Act, 1962
- Section 15 – Date for determination of rate of duty and tariff valuation of imported goods.
- Section 68 – Clearance of warehoused goods for home consumption.
- Customs Tariff Act, 1975 – First Schedule (referred in the exemption notification).
- Customs Notification No. 31/1997 / General Exemption No. 84-I – Exemption to materials imported against Advance Licence issued on or after 01.04.1997, particularly condition (iii) requiring production of the licence and certificate “at the time of clearance of imported materials for debit”.
Brief Summary (Three Sentences)
The appellant imported HDPE granules under OGL, warehoused them, and later sought exemption under an Advance Licence obtained by transfer, but the licence had expired by the time the warehoused goods were actually cleared on 08.12.2000. Applying Sections 15 and 68 of the Customs Act and the conditions in Notification No. 31/1997, the Supreme Court held that liability to duty and entitlement to exemption are determined on the date of clearance from the warehouse, and since the licence had expired on that date, the benefit of exemption could not be claimed. Relying on Pratibha Processors (1996) 11 SCC 101, the Court upheld the High Court’s view and dismissed the appeal as devoid of merit.