9911796707
TMI Blog2004 (5) TMI 417X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on Ltd., Hong Kong, by ordering enforcement of a provisional release bond supported by a bank guarantee. He held that the vessel in question i.e. MT Millennium and furnace oil carried by it, both of which were subsequently released provisionally, are liable to confiscation under Section 111(f) and (n) of the Customs Act. He also imposed a penalty of Rs. 10 lakhs on M/s. Export Trade Corporation Ltd., a penalty of Rs. 2 lakhs each on Sanjeev Jain and Sher Singh Saklani, the broker and the captain of the vessel respectively, and a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh on M/s. Delta Marine Services under Section 112(a) of the Customs Act. Hence these appeals. 2. Briefly the facts are M/s. Delta Marine Services are local agents of the ship in question. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... have declared the goods (furnace oil) as cargo rather than ships stores. The ship along with the furnace oil on board was seized on 26-4-2000 for misdeclaration while filing the IGM. At the time of seizure the vessel was valued at Rs. 3.75 crores and furnace oil at Rs. 60.92 lakhs. Statement of all and sundry were recorded and the furnace oil on board was sent for chemical analysis. The test report reads as follows : "The same as received in the form of black viscose liquid. It is composed of mainly furnace oil, fuel oil contaminated with high percentage of water and as such does not conform to standard furnace oil having the following characteristic. - Water contents : 20.2%, density at 15 deg. is 0.99 gms/ml, ash - 0.52%, mineral hydro c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... furnace oil and was highly contaminated. As admitted by everyone concerned, the furnace oil on board was left over cargo which could not be discharged. It is also a fact that it was declared as ship store, instead of left over cargo in the manifest filed by the master. When these facts were known to the department the best course of action would have been to consider them while assessing duty on the ship when a Bill of Entry for breaking the ship was filed. The facts in this case reveal that no such Bill of Entry was filed at Bedi. At that point of time what was known was that the vessel would be broken up in India. But until a Bill of Entry was filed for assessment, no assessment could take place. The impugned order nowhere indicates that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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