NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has held that computation of Non-Injurious Price (NIP) under the anti-dumping law must be done for the industry as a whole and not for any particular company or enterprise.

The purpose of imposition of anti-dumping duty on goods imported from foreign countries is both to redress injury and to prevent material retardation of the establishment or growth of that domestic industry, said a Bench consisting of Justices Ashok Bhan and Markandey Katju.

"The anti-dumping law is extremely important for the country's industrial progress, and hence there should be total transparency and fairness in its implementation."

In the present case, Reliance Industries Limited, manufacturing Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA) sought imposition of the anti-dumping duty on PTA originating from Japan, Malaysia, Spain and Taiwan. After examination, the Designated Authority (DA) in the Commerce Ministry imposed a duty of Rs. 521 a tonne on PTA originating only from Spain.

Authority has erred

On appeal, the Customs Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal upheld the DA findings.Disposing of a special leave petition against this order, the Bench said: "The DA has clearly erred in law because the Authority is required to carry out the determination of injury and computation of NIP for the domestic industry as a whole and not in respect of any particular company or enterprise."

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