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1998 (3) TMI 474

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..... appellant s residence the imported goods and, among other documents, two fax messages purported to have been sent by M/s. Sansei Telltag Co. Ltd., Tokyo. In his statement, Uttam Jain, a partner of appellant admitted that the goods were not of Japanese origin and one of the two faxes dated 3rd August, 1995 which was recovered indicated the price of the goods imported at Japanese Yen 1100 or US $ 12.80 per metre. On the basis of this statement, and what was stated in the notice issued to be a copy of the export declaration filed at Hong Kong for the consignment, the Collector passed the order impugned in appeal. The Collector has enhanced the value of the goods to US $ 12.80 per metre ordered their confiscation and imposed penalty. 2. Advoc .....

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..... in. Hence the facts disclose substantial under-invoicing. 4. The export declaration produced before us is a barely legible photocopy. The details of the consignment importer s name, the ship carrying the cargo are legible and tally correspond with the details of the imports made by the appellant. The declaration was annexed to the notice issued by the Department which has not specified the manner of its acquisition or the person from whom it acquired the document. There are no signatures of any Customs or other Government officers on it. For such a document to be accepted as evidence it will have to be shown to come within the purview of Section 139 (1) of the Act. The reasoning of the Tribunal in East Punjab Traders v. CCE which was conf .....

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..... entry that the goods were of Chinese origin on the basis of the Certificate of origin supplied by the shipper M/s Glory Products Co. Ltd., Hongkong having been misled by that certificate. The actual words are In fact in this deal I have been cheated by the supplier who gave a false certificate of origin which I used since the goods had already arrived at the port. He said that he had asked the agent to declare the goods at $ 1.25 per metre and explained his action by saying that all importers imported such goods at lower price. He retracted from the statement in an affidavit sworn before a notary in October, 1995. The delay of 12 days in the retraction is attributed to the fear that arose in Jain s mind by the threat of preventive detent .....

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..... has been taken over under panchanama as described under serial No. 25 and is now shown to me and I have signed on it as having seen it. As shall be seen from the packing list of the consignment the entire material I have purchased at the rate of J Yen 1100 i.e. approximately US $ 10.68 per metre. [The price for the goods cannot be sent after the contract is completed and the goods are despatched. 8. A reading of the fax confirm this view. It says Teijin still hold following stock. If you are interested, please advise us This is clearly, therefore an offer made to the appellant with regard to goods which on the date it was sent, were still with Teijin. The fax therefore cannot be the price for the goods already sent, and has further und .....

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..... of metres, e.g. 273.3, 255.8 etc. This lends credence to the contention that the goods imported by the appellant were sold at a lower price because they were all odd lot. 12. It is a matter of common knowledge that during the relevant period there were regular and frequent imports of polyurethane. It would be expected that the Department would be able to cite details of import of polyurethane at prices higher than those declared by the appellant, particularly in view of the claim in his statement he undervalued the goods because everyone else was doing so. There are no details of such importation. 13. These discussions lead us to hold that misdeclaration of the value by the appellant has not been established. The declaration made was, .....

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