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Issues Involved:
1. Licence requirement for the imported goods. 2. Valuation of the imported goods. Summary: Issue 1: Licence Requirement The appellants imported 30 M.T. Plastic Sheets and declared a value of DM 93,000/- CIF. Customs alleged mis-declaration and under-declaration of value. The goods were described vaguely in the invoice, raising suspicions. Customs believed the appellants intended to clear the consignment as Cellulose Nitrate Sheets under OGL at a concessional rate, which was significantly lower than the duty for Plastic Sheets. The Collector of Customs held that the importers intended to claim the goods under OGL and made a wrong declaration in the Bill of Entry, thus establishing an offence u/s 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962. The appellants argued that the letters "C.N." stood for "Colour Natural" and not "Cellulose Nitrate" and that they were ready to produce the necessary licences. The Tribunal found that the appellants had attempted to clear the goods by giving a wrong description and noted the absence of an import licence with the Bill of Entry. The Tribunal held that the Collector should have allowed the appellants to file the licences and accepted or rejected them on merits. Issue 2: Valuation of Goods The Collector relied on a commission statement and a previous import by Thermax Private Ltd. to determine the value of the goods. The appellants contended that the commission statement was provisional and related to a total consignment of 85 M.T., not the 30 M.T. imported. The Tribunal found the commission statement authentic and held that it correctly represented the value of the imported goods. The Tribunal also considered the importation by Thermax as corroborating evidence. The Tribunal concluded that the appellants had grossly under-declared the value and attempted to pass the goods without a licence and at a concessional rate of duty by mis-declaring them as Cellulose Nitrate Sheets. Orders: 1. The value of the imported goods was accepted at DM 2,63,500. 2. The fine in lieu of confiscation was reduced to Rs. 5 lakhs and the penalty to Rs. 1 lakh, considering the increased Customs duty, the amount of duty sought to be evaded, the time lag between importation and possible release, and consequential demurrage. 3. The appeal was disposed of accordingly.
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