WIPRO SYSTEMS LTD Vs. COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal against the order of the Collector of Customs, Bangalore, dated 9-2-88. Brief facts of the case are the appellants imported a computer system and claimed clearance of the same under OGL against Sl. No. 8 of Appendix 6 read with para 58(2) of the Policy Book. The lower authority's objection to the import was that the appellants had not imported the configuration as indicated in the Policy inasmuch as they had not imported the Console which has been set out as an essential component part of the computer system permissible for import. The appellants' plea before the lower authority was that they got a keyboard and a monitor which in conjunction with each other function as a Console. The learned Collector, however, has held that for a unit to be considered as a Console it was necessary that through this it should be possible to input the instructions to the CPU. The appellants had placed before the learned Collector a certificate issued by the Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in support of their plea that the keyboard and the monitor constitute a Console. The learned Collector, however, has not given any finding in regard to the authoritative opinion placed before him.

(2.) The learned Consultant for the appellants pleaded that the computer system imported by them answered to the description of the system as allowed under the Policy. He drew my attention to the certificate issued by the Department of Computer Science and Automation and the definition of 'Console' as given in "A Dictionary of Computer" by N.R. Spencer. The said definition is reproduced below for convenience of reference:

(3.) THE learned JDR for the Department adopted the reasoning given in the order-in-original.