2016 (12) TMI 961 - AT - Customs

Penalty u/s 117 of the Customs Act 1962 - role of appellant in export related activities - Held that - Appellant had played prominent role in export related activities of the exporter M/s Promising Exports Ltd. and has been correctly visited with penalty of ₹ 10,000/- - appeal dismissed - decided against appellant.

Summary

Issues:
Penalty imposed under Sec 117 of the Customs Act 1962 on the appellant.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed against the imposition of a penalty of ?10,000 under Sec 117 of the Customs Act 1962. The appellant, one of the Directors of M/s Promising Exports Ltd, Kolkata, filed a joint reply with the exporter. The appellant argued that no specific role was assigned to him in the show cause notice. The Revenue contended that the appellant failed to explain discrepancies in quantities, did not cooperate during the investigation, and received drawback incentives without exporting goods to Bangladesh. The main issue was whether the penalty was correctly imposed on the appellant under Sec 117.

Upon examination of the case records, it was found that the appellant was intimately involved in the exporter's activities. The appellant was summoned to explain discrepancies in quantities but did not cooperate fully. The appellant failed to mention that another Director was handling Customs-related work. Additionally, the appellant could not recall export details and sought multiple extensions to provide procurement details. Despite not explicitly discussed by the Adjudicating authority, these facts indicated the appellant's significant role in explaining the exporter's case during the investigation.

Considering the appellant's prominent role in the exporter's export activities, the Tribunal upheld the penalty of ?10,000 on the appellant. The appeal was dismissed, affirming the correctness of the penalty imposed under Sec 117 of the Customs Act 1962.