9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (7) TMI 805X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 111 (o) of the Act valued at Rs. 1,24,387/-with an option to redeem them on payment of duty of Rs. 10,000/-, he has imposed penalties of Rs. 1 lakh on Kailash Narain, the managing partner and Rs. 50,000/- each on Vasant Ajmera and M.K. Shah. 2. Kailash, located at Khamaria, U.P. imported 11 consignments of various chemicals and other items required for the manufacture of carpets under the Import and Export Passbook Scheme. The scheme contemplates import duty free of materials required for manufacture of export goods and also permit importation duty free of goods for replenishment of other material used in the manufacture of exported products. The effect to the duty free exemption is given by Notification 117/88. It is not disputed be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... contravention. He has, however, concluded that the other four consignments were in fact sold and ordered to be confiscated and imposed penalty. 4. The common contention of the counsel for the appellants before us is that on what is almost identical evidence the Commissioner has come to diametrically opposite conclusions. He has released seven consignments and confiscated four consignments. It is contended that in any event there has been sufficient material to show receipt of these four consignments in the factory of the importer. It is additionally contended by the counsel for Vasant Ajmera that the Collector in fact not found the goods liable to confiscation. Therefore the pre-requisite for imposition of penalty under Section 112 of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he endorsement made in the registers of the importer were made subsequent to the issue of the show cause notice. He further says that consumption registers in this regard can always be cooked up subsequent to the issue of show cause notice and any obliging Central Excise officer can sign it as seen . So I do not attach much reliance to the piece of evidence produced by the appellant . He agrees that the department has not been able to identify Shivkumar but says that in the light of the unretracted statement of Vasant Ajmera and Mukesh Shah, this is not of significance. He finds that investigation by the department has shown Jayashree Transporters not to be located at its stated address. He also finds that only fictitious transport docume ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ual force to the remaining seven consignments. Yet he chooses to accept the reports with regard to these seven consignments. It is also not possible to conclude that the reports of utilisation afterwards of the goods in these four consignments were fabricated after issue of show cause notices. The notices were issued on 28th August, 1990. The verification of the details in Form 5B, required to be maintained, we are told, by the licensing authority show verification with regard to formic acid on 10-3-1990, and marlophin on 2-1-1990. It is clear that the Collector s own officers visited the factory of the appellant on 29-2-1992 to verify the contentions of the importer. They have made entries in the stock register on 29-7-1992. If the officer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d accepts as valid when it not. We would in the normal course and in the absence of anything to the contrary accept as the Collector himself has done for the majority of the goods, that these verifications abide them. We have to conclude therefore that the Collector s conclusion that verification was done subsequently is wrong. It is therefore difficult to resist the conclusion that there is insufficient material to show that the goods did not reach the appellants factory and the demand for duty therefore cannot be sustained. 10. The Collector has ordered 241 cartons of adhesive tapes which the Collector ordered to be confiscated had not even been cleared of the customs. The reason advanced by the Collector that the importer would have cl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
