9911796707
TMI Blog2003 (6) TMI 242X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... crores. The shipping bills were under claims for DEPB benefit at the rate of 20% of FOB value. DEPB benefit is subject to the condition that the benefit cannot exceed 50% of the Present Market Value (PMV) of the goods under export. In view of this, the appellant declared the PMV of the export goods at about Rs. 1.3 crores. 2. Upon physical examination of the goods on 8-4-99, the Customs Officers felt that the goods had been highly overvalued/over-invoiced inasmuch as the declared FOB value came to Rs. 2140 per kg. of steel balls which value was several times higher than the value noticed for similar goods. In respect of previous exports, the value was found to vary in the range of Rs. 180 to Rs. 227 per kg. The case was therefore, referr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Customs Act, 1962, Rules 11 and 14 of Foreign Trade Regulation Rules 1993 read with Section 11 of Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 and Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962. The Notice proposed confiscation of the goods under Section 113(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 and penalty under Section 114(1) of the Customs Act, 1962. Under the adjudication order dated 26-2-2002 impugned in the present appeals, the Commissioner of Customs (Export Promotion), Mumbai upheld the charges and passed the following order : (a) Order confiscation of the Steel Balls for export under the S/Bills mentioned at S. No. l of the order above to the Union of India and which are still lying in the Docks. However, I allow the exporter to re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unt of time in adjudicating the case. The appellants have also submitted that the detention of the goods from March 1999 for almost three years has caused them great hardship and loss. It is also contended that the fines and penalties are exorbitant and unjustified in the facts of the case. They have pleaded for the release of the goods and quashing of the penalties. 5. As against this, the submission of the Revenue is that this was a case of deliberate over-invoicing of export goods to avail of disproportionately higher DEPB benefit. Learned DR has pointed out that the clerical error explanation offered by the appellant has no basis in facts, inasmuch as the verification of the purchase bills produced by the appellant had shown that th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... declaration of both FOB value and PMV, rendering the goods liable to confiscation and appellants to penalty. 8. The appellant s grievance about inordinate delay in finalising the case is entirely justified. The objection about the declared value was raised on 8-4-99, when the goods were examined. Appellant admitted the overvaluation and offered an explanation. Appellant s explanatory letter dated 12-4-99 was presented to the Customs on 3-5-99 by his clearing agent. The position was also reiterated in a statement made by the appellant on 9-6-99. The previous export prices also showed that once reduced by a factor of 12, the declared values conformed to the normal value of the goods. Thus, the objection about misdeclaration of value remaine ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rnment by misdeclaring the export value and present market value, so as to claim higher DEPB benefit. The order has justified the imposition of penalties on each of the partners by observing as under: The benefit was to come to the firm and each of the partners of the exporting firm was the beneficiary of such deliberate attempt for claiming inadmissible and irregular DEPB benefit. In view of this it is held that each one of the partners along with the exporting firm have become liable to personal penalty. It is well settled that beneficiaries to be a firm s profit do not become liable for every irregularity committed by the firm. In fact, law specifically permits admission of persons to benefits from the profits of a firm without cas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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