In Brief
The Supreme Court addressed the dispute over apportionment of sale proceeds when the warehouse-keeper sells imported goods due to non-payment of warehouse charges. Imported CTV kits remained in warehouse beyond the permitted period; the warehouse-keeper sold them and recovered warehouse charges. The question was whether customs duty should be calculated on the sale price or on the duty-rate as on the expiry date of the warehousing period. The Court held that customs duty must be calculated on sale proceeds received (working backwards) per the Board's 2001 circular, not the duty rate on the deemed removal date. The sale proceeds must be apportioned per Section 150(2) in prescribed priority. The Kesoram judgment, requiring duty assessment on the deemed removal date, was distinguished as inapplicable to sales under Section 63."
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