The Union government has told the Supreme Court iron ore pellets have been subject to export duty from time to time and imposing export duty or removing it on any class of commodities is a policy decision.
It said iron ore pellets are not listed in either of the three regulated entities list -- prohibited, restricted, or standard trading enterprises (STEs) -- which clearly showed that as per Foreign Trade Policy, trade in iron ore pellets is free, because it is not regulated.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry filed an affidavit in the top court in response to a PIL filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma.
The NGO sought a direction to either ban the export or impose a levy of 30 per cent on exports of iron ore in all forms including pellets.
In its reply, the Centre said the petitioner, in an attempt to mislead, has confused between the imposition of custom duty (import duty as well as export duty) and imposition of regulations (import policy as well as export policy).
The Centre also denied the petitioner's claim that since 2014, with the relaxation given to Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL), a PSU, the export duty on iron ore pellets has become nil.
"It is factually incorrect because a 5 per cent export duty was imposed via notification dated January 27, 2014. This export duty remained enforced, till it was removed via notification dated January 4, 2016. All exporters, including KIOCL, have paid the export duty of 5 per cent on their exports during the period January 27, 2014 to January 3, 2016," it said.
On Thursday, a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana allowed the petitioners to file a rejoinder to the affidavit and put the matter for consideration on November 26.
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