Delhi High Court - Orders
Commissioner Of Customs Air ... vs M/S. Ingram Micro India Pvt. Ltd on 12 September, 2023
Author: Yashwant Varma
Bench: Yashwant Varma, Dharmesh Sharma
$~2
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CUSAA 38/2023
COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS AIR CHENNAI-VII
COMMISSIONERATE ..... Appellant
Through: Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, SSC
with Mr. Ashutosh Jain, Mr.
Samyak Jain, Advs.
versus
M/S. INGRAM MICRO INDIA PVT. LTD. ..... Respondent
Through: Mr. Yogendra Aldak, Mr.
Kunal Kapoor, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DHARMESH SHARMA
ORDER
% 12.09.2023 CM APPL. 20809/2023 Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
The application shall stand disposed of.
CUSAA 38/20231. The instant appeal under Section 130A of the Customs Act, 1962 ["the Act"] emanates out of a claim for exemption which was raised by the respondent in terms of a Notification dated 11 July 2014. The issue of classification arises in the context of Customs Tariff Item ["CTI"] 8517 62 90 which reads as follows:-
Sl. No. Heading Sub Heading for Description Tariff Item (1) (2) (3) 13 8517 All goods, except the following:
(i) soft switches and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment, namely, VoIP phones, media gateways, gateway This is a digitally signed order.
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The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 18:29:53 controllers and session border controllers;
(ii) optical transport
equipments, combination
of one or more of Packet
Optical Transport Product
or Switch (POTP or
POTS), Optical Transport
Network (OTN) products,
and Radios;
(iii) Carrier Ethernet Switch,
Packet Transport Node
(PTN) products,
Multiprotocol Label
Switching-Transport
Profile (MPLS-TP)
products;
(iv) Multiple Input/Multiple
Output (MIMO) and
Long Term Evolution
(LTE) Products.
2. The question which arises for our determination is whether a Multiple Input / Multiple Output ["MIMO"] is liable to be read in conjunction with Long Term Evolution ["LTE"] product or whether the Department would be correct in its contention that Entry (iv) in CTI 8517 is principally concerned with two separate articles.
3. We note that the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ["CESTAT"] itself in its impugned order dated 12 September 2022 has understood MIMO and LTE to be the following:-
"(ii) MIMO: It is a technology wherein multiple antennas are used simultaneously for transmission and multiple antennas are used simultaneously for reception;
(iii) LTE: In telecommunication, it is a standard for highspeed cellular communication for mobile devices and data terminals. It increases the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements."
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 18:29:53
4. In view of the aforesaid, we are of the opinion that the appeal merits consideration. Consequently, the appeal shall stand admitted.
5. Issue notice. Since the respondent is duly represented, let a reply be filed, if so chosen and advised, on or before the next date fixed.
6. After hearing learned counsels for parties, the Court frames the following questions of law:-
a. Whether the word "and" as appearing in CTI 8517 (iv) is to be read in a disjunctive manner and thus be viewed as referring to separate products?
7. Learned counsel for parties are also granted liberty to place their Brief Note of Submissions on record at least 48 hours prior to the date fixed. Those submissions shall refer to the pdf page numbers of the digital record of the Court wherever so required.
8. List again on 05.12.2023.
YASHWANT VARMA, J.
DHARMESH SHARMA, J.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 neha This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 18:29:54