Page 216 - ELT_15th July 2020_Vol 373_Part 2

198 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

“ ‘Wharfage’ shall mean the basic dues recoverable on all cargo im-
ported or exported or transhipped or passing through the port, whether
porteraged by the CHPT or not.”
4. The Learned Counsel would also refer to Section 48 of the Major Port
Trusts Act, 1963, which reads as follows :-
“48. Scales of rates for services performed by Board or other person. -
(1) The authority shall from time to time, by notification in the Official
Gazette, frame a scale of rates at which, and a statement of conditions un-
der which, any of the services specified hereunder shall be performed by a
Board or any other person authorised under Section 42 at or in relation to
the port or port approaches;
(a) transhipping of passengers or goods between vessels in the
port or port approaches;
(b) landing any shipping of passengers or goods from or to such
vessels to or from any wharf, quay, jetty, pier, dock, berth,
mooring, stage or erection, land or building in the possession
or occupation of the Board or at any place within the limits of
the port or port approaches;
(c) carnage or porterage of goods on any such place;
(d) wharfage, storage or demurrage of goods on any such placel;
(e) any other service in respect of vessels, passengers or goods.
(2) Different scales and conditions may be framed for different classes of
goods and vessels. ”
5. The Learned Counsel for the petitioner would submit that from the
above it is very clear that the wharfage is leviable only on the goods and it can
never be on the vessel itself. According to the Learned Counsel for the petitioner
that the Port authorities had misread the situation only because of the fact that
the petitioner had filled up the forms in import general manifest only for the
purpose of complying with the provisions of the Customs Act as provided and
such declaration alone cannot be the basis for declaring the vessel itself as mani-
fested cargo and wharfage could be levied. She would also draw the attention of
this Court that the importer is required to file a bill of entry under Section 46 of
the Customs Act, 1962 and that such compliance is mandatory as per notification
of the Customs in Entry No. 462, Condition No. 82 dated 17-3-2012.
6. The Learned Counsel would also draw the attention of this Court to
Circular No. 16 of 2012 of the Customs, in which, the procedure is provided for
import of Indian vessels and filing of import general manifest, bill of entry etc.
She would draw the attention of this Court to Paragraph No. 3 of the procedure
provided which reads as under :-
“3.1 In this regard, it is stated that as the provisions of Section 29 of
the Customs Act, 1962 read with Section 2(22) and 2(25), the term ‘Imported
goods’, inter alia, Includes vessels entering India from any place outside the
country (India). These vessels may fall into any of the following category (i)
Foreign flag vessels i.e., vessels that have been registered outside India and
which carry imported/exported goods or passengers, during its foreign run
(voyage from a port outside India to an Indian port, whether touching any
intermediate port in India or not); (ii) Vessel entering India for the first rime
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