The Hindu Business Line : On dating a Porsche!

A CAR can massage organs that no masseur can reach, is a quote of Jean Cocteau, best known for his 1929 novel Les Enfants Terribles, the 1934 play The Infernal Machine, and the 1945 film, Beauty and the Beast,' as www.brainyencyclopedia.com informs. "It is the one remedy for the disorders of the great sympathetic nervous system," he would add. That should explain the continuing passion of people (often men!) for cars, even at great cost and much criticism. Such as, what Victoria Billings might scoff at: "Whether he admits it or not, a man has been brought up to look at money as a sign of his virility, a symbol of his power, a bigger phallic symbol than a Porsche."

Let me not get into the correctness of that thought of Billings, for I have a Porsche case on hand to discuss: the car that Jawahar Charles Mathias wanted to import in 2000. It was a 1989 model Porsche Hatchback `with an engine capacity of 2649 cc Turbo', as the text of the Bangalore Tribunal's order dated July 5 informs.

Problem started when Customs officials told him: `The car was not in use of the passenger for a minimum period of one year and therefore, it has been imported in violation of conditions stipulated in the Customs Public Notice No. 3/97-02 dated March 31, 1997'. As a result, `the car valued at Rs 4,45,056 was confiscated under Section 111 (d) of the Customs Act, 1962.'

This provision is titled `Confiscation of improperly imported goods' and (d) reads, `any goods which are imported or attempted to be imported or are brought within the Indian customs waters for the purpose of being imported, contrary to any prohibition imposed by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force,' as you may see on www.cbec.gov.in.

The relevant portion of the Public Notice in question, i.e., Para 2A (a) reads thus: `Import of one passenger car with engine size not exceeding four cylinders and not exceeding 1600 cc is permitted, whether the car is new or old. However, if engine size exceeds four cylinders or 1600 cc, the car should have been in the use of the importer for more than a year prior to his return to India.' The Department told Mathias that he could take his Porsche on paying a fine of Rs 1,50,000, and a penalty of Rs 10,000. Seeking remedy, Mathias went to the Commissioner (Appeals), who decided the valuation of the car at $25,991 less 70 per cent depreciation. He reduced the redemption fine to Rs 25,000 and the penalty to Rs 2,000.

The Department wasn't happy with the order: One, the Commissioner had re-valued the car (almost Rs 1 lakh less); and two, he had used a new currency, dollar, instead of the pound that had been mentioned in the assessment.

The pound gets pounded in the case, because of the confusion whether it should be Irish pounds or GBP, but that's a different story.

Mathias argued that even though the car was in his use for more than a year prior to his return to India, but he'd registered the car `a little late'. He cited the H.S. Chopra case where it had been held that the condition is satisfied if the car was purchased more than one year earlier; thus, the fact of registration is not a criteria, he argued. This helped, and the Tribunal decided against the Department, setting aside confiscation, fine and penalty.

If that Billings's quote worries you, here's a thought to wrap, from Scott Adams: "In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot car. But women wised up and realised it was better to buy their own hot cars so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks."

LawLane@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali

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