Supreme Court of India Commnr. Of Customs (Imports), Mumbai vs M/S. Tullow India Operations Ltd on 28 October, 2005 Equivalent citations: AIR 2006 SUPREME COURT 536, 2005 AIR SCW 6187, 2006 (1) AIR BOM R 760, (2005) 189 ELT 401, (2005) 128 ECR 209, (2005) 8 SCJ 364, 2005 (13) SCC 789, (2005) 8 SUPREME 790, (2005) 9 SCALE 58, (2005) 10 JT 618 (SC) CASE NO.: Appeal (civil) 5900 of 2004 PETITIONER: Commnr. of Customs (Imports), Mumbai RESPONDENT: M/s. Tullow India Operations Ltd. DATE OF JUDGMENT: 28/10/2005 B.P. Singh & S.B. Sinha JUDGMENT: J U D G M E N T WITH CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1882 OF 2004 AND CIVIL APPEAL NO. 854 OF 2005 S.B. SINHA, J : Interpretation of notification issued in terms of subsection (1) of Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 being General Exemption No. 121 is in question in these appeals which arise out of judgment and order dated 9.12.2003 passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal in Appeal No. C/1210/Mum & C/51/2002 Mum. The relevant portion of the said general exemption notification dated 28.2.1999 is as under: "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the goods of the description specified in column (3) of the Table below or column (3) of the said Table read with the relevant List appended hereto, as the case may be, and falling within the Chapter, heading No. or sub heading No. of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) as are specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the said Table, when imported into India, (a) from so much of the duty of the customs leviable thereon under the said First Schedule as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table; (b) from so much of the additional duty leviable thereon under subsection (1) of section 3 of the said Customs Tariff Act, as is in excess of the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) of the said Table, subject to any of the conditions, specified in the Annexure to this notification, the condition No. of which is mentioned in the corresponding entry in column (6) of said Table. Provided that nothing contained in this notification shall apply to goods specified against serial Nos. 174, 175, 176, 177, 178 and 179 of the said Table on or after the 1st day of April, 2000. Explanation  For the purposes of this notification, the rate specified in column (4) or column (5), is ad valorem rate, unless otherwise specified." The goods specified in Sl. Nos. 182, 184 and 231 of the Table of the Notification read as under: "S.No. Chapter or heading No. or subheading No. Description of goods 182. 84, 85 or any other Chapter Goods specified in List 11 required in connection with petroleum operations undertaken under petroleum exploration licenses granted by the Government of India to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation or Oil India Limited on nomination basis. 184. 84 or any other Chapter Goods specified in List 11 required in connection with petroleum operations undertaken under specified contracts 231. 49 or 85.24 The following goods, namely: (i) Information Technology Software, and (ii) Document of title conveying the right to use Information Technology software Explanation.  "Information Technology Software" means any representation of instructions, data, sound or image including source code and object code, recorded in a machine readable form, and capable of being manipulated or providing interactivity to a user, by means of an automatic data processing machine. Relevant portion of Condition Nos. 34 and 36 annexed to the said notification read as under: "34.If (a) the goods are imported by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation or Oil India Limited (hereinafter referred to as the "licensee") or a sub contractor of the licensee and in each case in connection with petroleum operations to be undertaken under petroleum exploration licences granted by the Government of India on nomination basis; (b) where the importer is a licensee, he produces to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, at the time of importation, the following, namely, certificate from a duly authorized officer of the Directorate General of Hydro Carbons in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, to the effect that the imported goods are required for petroleum operations referred to in clause (a) and have been imported under the licences referred to in that clause, and.." "36. If (a) the goods are imported by an Indian Company or Companies, a Foreign Company or Companies, or a consortium of an Indian Company or Companies and a Fo