Case Law Details
Shri. Haji Sumar Vs Commissioner of Customs (CESTAT Chennai)
CESTAT Chennai has held that the transaction value adopted by the importer cannot be rejected merely based on export declarations received from Turkish Customs, public ledger and Commodity Trade Statistics Data (Comtrade). Shri. Haji Sumar, who is one of the partners of M/s. Diamond Traders, has stated that he is not aware of the exporter‟s declaration filed before the Turkish Customs and does not know that the unit price declared at Turkey is higher. It is stated by him that he has made remittances to the foreign supplier through bank at unit price of USD 750 as declared in the Bills-of-Entry only. The export documents are not in English and contain only some English words. The discrepancy alleged in the export declaration made by exporter is sought to be corroborated by the statement of the appellant, but he has denied any knowledge. Further, the consideration is received through Bank. Therefore, the discrepancies in the export declaration are not sufficient evidence to reject the transaction value.
The Tribunal, while disposing of a batch of cases in regard to similar imports of the very same goods and where similar evidence was adduced by the Department, had held that the transaction value cannot be rejected on the basis of such evidence.
FULL TEXT OF THE CESTAT JUDGEMENT
These appeals arise out of the order passed by the Commissioner by which the declared value in Bills-of-Entry dated 19.05.2006 in respect of import of poppy seeds from Turkey were rejected and re-determined at USD 2500 per Metric Tonne (MT) besides confirmation of differential duty along with interest, apart from holding that the goods are liable for confiscation and also imposition of penalties.
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