NDLI: Union of India & Ors. Vs. M/s G S Chatha Rice Mills & Anr.

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Customs Tariff Act
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975)
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4 Referred Case 5 Referred Case 6 Referred Case 7 Referred Case 8 Referred Case 9 Referred Case 10 Referred Case 11 Referred Case 12 Referred Case 13 Referred Case 14 Referred Case 15 Referred Case 16 Referred Case 17 Referred Case 18 Referred Case 19 Referred Case 20 Referred Case 21 Referred Case 22 Referred Case 23 Referred Case 24
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Dismissed
Headnote	Customs Tariff Act, 1975: ss.8A and 11A – Customs Act, 1962 – ss.12, 15, 17, 46 and 47 – Assessment of duty – Shift from manual to electronic form of governance – Impact of – Publication of notification on e-gazette – Time of publication on e-gazette – Relevance of – Starting point for enforceability of e-notification – On 16 February 2019, the Union Government issued a notification (Notification 5/2019) u/s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act – The notification introduced a tariff entry by which all goods imported from Pakistan were subjected to enhanced customs duty – The notification was published through electronic mode i.e. uploaded on the e-Gazette late in the evening of 16th Feb 2019 at 20:46:58 hours – Importers concerned, who had imported goods from Pakistan, had presented their bills of entry and completed the process of “self assessment” before the notification enhancing the rate of duty was issued and uploaded – Whether Notification 5/2019 was applicable with retrospective effect and the importers concerned were liable to pay duty on the basis of enhanced rate under the Notification – Held: With the change in the manner of publishing gazette notifications from analog to digital, the precise time when the gazette is published in the electronic mode assumes significance – Notification 5/2019 must come into operation with reference to the point of time of the day when it was published on the e-gazette – Notification 5/2019, which is akin to the exercise of delegated legislative power, under the emergency power to notify and revise tariff duty under s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act, cannot operate retrospectively, unless authorized by statute – In the era of the electronic publication of gazette notifications and electronic filing of bills of entry, the revised rate of import duty under the Notification 5/2019 applies to bills of entry presented for home consumption after the notification was uploaded in the e-Gazette at 20:46:58 hours on 16 February 2019 – In the instant case, the twin conditions of s.15 of the Customs Act, 1962 stood determined prior to the issuance of Notification 5/2019 on 16 February 2019 at 20:46:58 hours – The rate of duty which was applicable was crystallized at the time and on the date of the presentation of the bills of entry in terms of provisions of s.15 of the Customs Act read with Regulation 4(2) of the Regulations of 2018 – Power of reassessment under s.17(4) could not have been exercised since this is not a case where there was an incorrect self-assessment of duty – The duty was correctly assessed at the time of self-assessment in terms of the duty which was in force on that date and at the time – Subsequent publication of the notification bearing 5/2019 did not furnish a valid basis for re-assessment – Bill of Entry (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations, 2018 – Information Technology Act, 2000 – ss.13 and 8 – Information Technology (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules 2011 – r.5(1) – Notifications/Circulars/Government Orders. Circulars/Government Orders/Notifications: Emergency power conferred upon the Central government u/s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act to increase import duties “in respect of any article included in the first schedule” – Notification enhancing rate of duty u/s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act – Applicability of – Retrospective or prospective – Held: A rule framed by the delegate of the legislature does not have retrospective effect unless the statutory provision under which it is framed allows retrospectivity either by the use of specific words to that effect or by necessary implication – Entrustment of the power to issue a notification enhancing the rate of duty u/s.8A is not accompanied by a statutory entrustment of authority to the Central government to exercise it with retrospective effect – A notification u/s.8A(1), even though it has the effect of amending the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, takes effect prospectively – Customs Tariff Act, 1975 – s.8A – Delegated legislation. Circulars/Government Orders/Notifications: E-notification – Publication through e-gazettes – Basis for – Held: s.8 of the Information Technology Act creates a legal basis for publication of laws through e-gazettes – Information Technology Act, 2000 – s.8. Legislation: Delegated legislation – Distinction between plenary powers entrusted to Parliament and the State legislatures to enact legislation with both prospective and retrospective effect, and the power entrusted to a delegate of the legislature to frame subordinate legislation – Constitution of India – Arts. 245 and 246. Legislature: When legislature is silent on a subject – Held: Legislature does not always say everything on the subject – When it enacts a law, every conceivable eventuality which may arise in the future may not be present to the mind of the lawmaker – Legislative silences create spaces for creativity – Between interstices of legislative spaces and silences, the law is shaped by the robust application of common sense. General Clauses Act 1897: s.5(3) – Coming into operation of an enactment – s.5(3) makes it abundantly clear that it is only a ‘Central Act’ or ‘Regulation’ which comes into operation immediately on the expiration of the day preceding its commencement. General Clauses Act, 1897: s.3(50) – Notification issued by Central government under sub-section (1) of s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act – Held: Does not fulfil the description of a Regulation under s.3(50) of the General Clauses Act – The expression is confined to specific species of Regulations – The definition does not extend to all subordinate legislation or to notifications issued by a delegate of the legislature acting in pursuance of a statutory authority – Customs Tariff Act, 1975 – s.8A – Circulars/Government Orders/Notifications. General Clauses Act, 1897: s.3(7) – Notification issued by Central government u/s.8A of the Customs Tariff Act – Held: Is not an Act of Parliament – The Central government as a delegate of the legislature is entrusted with the authority to issue such a notification – The mere fact that a piece of delegated legislation has been issued in exercise of a legislatively conferred power does not bring the delegated legislation within the ambit of the phrase “Central Act” as defined in s.3(7) of the General Clauses Act – Customs Tariff Act, 1975 – s.8A – Circulars/Government Orders/Notifications – Legislation – Delegated legislation. Tax/Taxation: Imposition of a tax – Three stages encompassing the same, namely, declaration of liability, assessment, and methods of recovery.Tax/Taxation: Imposition of a tax – Three stages encompassing the same, namely, declaration of liability, assessment, and methods of recovery.
Judge	Hon'ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Neutral Citation	2020 INSC 561
Petitioner	Union Of India & Ors.
Respondent	M/s G S Chatha Rice Mills & Anr.
SCR	[2020] 14 S.C.R. 571
Judgement Date	2020-09-23
Case Number	3249

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