In Brief
The appellant, a steel mill importer, imported 595 cases of machinery under a bonded warehouse facility. During a search in 1992, 304 cases were found in the bonded warehouse, 264 cases outside it (but within factory premises) under the Superintendent's permission, and 27 cases were missing. The respondent demanded duty on all 264 and 27 cases. The Supreme Court held that the 264 cases, stored outside the warehouse on authorized permission that was never revoked, were not improperly removed and thus Sections 71–72 did not apply; duty should be determined under Section 15(1)(c). However, the 27 missing cases were correctly treated as unauthorized removal, and the penalty was upheld. The Court partly allowed the appeal, setting aside demands on 264 cases.
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