Meticulous Forwarders Vs Commissioner of customs (CESTAT Chennai)
CESTAT Chennai held that active collusion of appellant i.e. Custom House Agent [CHA] with High Sea Seller not proved hence penalty under section 112(a) of the Customs Act, 1962 unwarranted in absence of intention to evade payment of duty.
Facts- The appellants are CHAs who were involved in the clearance of raw silk yarn valued at Rs.3,36,10,6140/- imported by M/s. Kalp Impex allegedly by misusing the Advance Authorisation Scheme, in February 2009. The appellants were alleged to have aided and abetted in the clearance of the imported goods which were cleared duty-free, into the local market. Further they had without obtaining the requisite authorisations from the importer and without verifying the signatures of the authorized persons of both the High Sea Seller and buyer firm, presented the HSS agreement before the authorities for clearance of the goods and after clearance from the customs, the consignments have been booked to Bangalore instead of Surat at the instance of the High Seas Seller. Therefore, it appeared that the appellants’ act of omission / commission have rendered the goods liable for confiscation u/s. 111(o) of the Customs Act, 1962 and the appellants were liable to penalty u/s. 112(a) of the Act for abetment.
