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Issues:
1. Non-maintenance of prescribed registers by the Custom House Agent (CHA) firm. 2. Allegation of aiding and abetting illegal import of crude Sulphur. 3. Forfeiture of security deposit and suspension of CHA license. The judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Mumbai, involved a case where the CHA firm, after importing Sulphur, faced charges for not mentioning the Importer Code No. in the Bill of Entry (BE). The Assistant Commissioner found the charge of non-maintenance of documents proved. Subsequently, the Commissioner ordered the forfeiture of the security deposit of Rs. 25,000 and suspended the CHA license until a fresh security deposit was furnished. Upon review, the Tribunal determined that the prescribed registers under Regulation 14(a) were not maintained by the CHA firm, which was established. However, the charge of aiding and abetting illegal import was not proven as the Importer Code No. was later provided, and the provisional assessment was conducted. The Tribunal upheld the forfeiture of Rs. 25,000 due to the non-maintenance of registers. Regarding the suspension order, it was noted that the CHA firm had promptly paid the fresh amount of Rs. 25,000 as per the order, rendering the suspension order ineffective. As there was no actual suspension period, the entry of suspension details in the license was deemed unnecessary, and the reference to "Suspension" was ordered to be expunged from the valid license record. Consequently, the appeal was allowed in the specified terms, addressing the issues raised in the case comprehensively.
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