Indian courts issue rulings on customs classification and provisional release

The Madras High Court ruled in Vimpro Tech v. Commissioner of Customs that executive circulars from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) cannot restrict the statutory power to grant the provisional release of detained goods under Section 110A of the Customs Act, 1962. The court determined that the mere pendency of an investigation is not sufficient grounds to deny such release.

In a separate matter, the Supreme Court of India addressed the classification of medical equipment in Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs. The Court ruled that imported laser imagers should be classified under the residuary heading CTH 9033 00 00 as accessories, rather than as diagnostic instruments under CTH 9018 90 19. The decision was based on the finding that the imagers lacked independent diagnostic capability and functioned as accessories compatible with various types of medical machines.