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Journalism of Courage
Bengaluru activist gets customs relief on Covid oxygen concentrator imports
Vinay Kumar received the customs notice in March, years after he coordinated the fundraising and delivery of around 700 oxygen concentrators from Europe.
Vinay Kumar is known in Bengaluru for his Reclaim Constitution initiative, which holds events and activities to promote awareness of the Indian Constitution. (Photo: Special arrangement)
A Bengaluru activist has secured relief from a Rs 35 lakh customs duty notice issued on oxygen concentrators imported and donated free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vinay Kumar, a resident of Rajajinagar, had coordinated the fundraising and delivery of approximately 700 oxygen concentrators from Europe with the help of German acquaintances from the group Technology Without Borders in May 2021.
Years later, this March, he received a notice seeking customs duty on the devices, with officials claiming they were imported for “personal use”.
On August 5, a customs court dismissed the demand against the NGO through which the concentrators had been routed. “The importer acted with transparency at all stages of import, assessment and audit….there is no evidence to establish any collusion, wilful misstatement, or suppression of facts,” the court ruled.
The court also noted that the show-cause notice was issued on May 18, whereas the oxygen concentrators were imported in May 2021, thereby exceeding the two-year limitation period. The court observed that there was a provision to apply a five-year limitation period, but it could only be invoked in cases where there was a clear suppression of facts, which was not the case in the present matter.
Dropping the proceedings, the court stated, “I hold that the demand is barred by limitation and is therefore unsustainable in law.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kumar said, “Only if there is reasonable doubt of wrongdoing can the limitation period be extended…none of those criteria was met, and yet we were served this notice, which is quite surprising. It was a manually generated notice, so it is not a machine error. We don’t know why we had to face this despite complying with all the rules.”
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Kumar is known in Bengaluru for his Reclaim Constitution initiative, which holds events and activities to promote awareness of the Indian Constitution.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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