Ajanta Pharma Ltd. Vs Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo Export) (CESTAT Mumbai)
Summary: The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) Mumbai set aside a penalty of ₹2,00,000 imposed on Ajanta Pharma Ltd. under Section 117 of the Customs Act, 1962, in connection with alleged mis-declaration of goods in airway bills. The penalty had been levied by customs authorities for describing pharmaceutical products as “medical apparatus” in airway bills related to 43 consignments exported between 11 September 2018 and 10 March 2021.
According to the show-cause notice, the goods exported included erectile dysfunction medicines such as Kamagra Oral Jelly, Super Kamagra Tablets, and Kamagra Gold Tablets. The Department contended that although the shipping bills, invoices, and packing lists contained the correct description, the airway bills—mandatory under paragraph 2.06(a) of Chapter 2 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015–20 and DGFT notification dated 12 March 2015—showed false declarations. Based on this, a penalty under Section 117 was imposed.
The Tribunal examined whether the alleged contravention fell within the scope of Section 117, which provides for penalties only when a person contravenes provisions of the Customs Act or fails to comply with any of its requirements, where no specific penalty is otherwise provided. The Tribunal noted that the show-cause notice and the order-in-original did not refer to any specific provision of the Customs Act that had been violated. The alleged contravention was of the Foreign Trade Policy, not the Customs Act itself.
Comments are closed.