Mahender Pal Singh Vs Commissioner of Customs (CESTAT Delhi)
The Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi dismissed two appeals challenging an order that confirmed confiscation of goods, recovery of differential customs duty, and imposition of penalties under the Customs Act, 1962, in a case involving concealment of undeclared memory cards in an import consignment. Acting on specific intelligence, officers found that a consignment declared as “clips for multimedia card (metal parts)” imported by air from Hong Kong actually contained undeclared memory cards concealed within the metal clips. The Bill of Entry declared 26,800 clips, whereas examination revealed 26,703 adaptors, 3,080 memory cards of 1GB each, and additional printed stickers.
Investigation established that the Bill of Entry was filed in the name of a third-party firm whose IEC was lent for consideration, while the actual importers were different persons who jointly arranged the import. Statements recorded during investigation showed that the IEC holder had no role in the import other than lending the code, and searches at related premises resulted in recovery of similar goods. A show cause notice proposed confiscation, recovery of duty, and penalties. The adjudicating authority ordered confiscation under multiple clauses of Section 111, confirmed differential duty, imposed penalties under Section 114A, and later allowed redemption on payment of fines through a corrigendum.
