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Commissioner of Customs (Import) v. M/s Welkin Foods

Not available · 2026 INSC 19Decided 6 Jan 2026
Not available
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice R. Mahadevan

Background

An importer declared aluminium shelving as duty-free "parts of agricultural machinery"; customs reclassified it as a taxable "aluminium structure," demanding about ₹21 lakh.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court sided with customs, holding the shelving had no moving parts and did no farming work itself. It merely supported other independent machines bolted onto it, much like a road supports a car without becoming part of it.

Lesson Learnt

In customs disputes, what matters is an item's own physical nature and function, not a clever marketing name or the fact it will later be combined with genuine machinery.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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