9911796707
TMI Blog2008 (1) TMI 123X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... [Order Per. S.S. Kang Vice-President]- 1. Heard both sides. Appellant filed this appeal against the impugned order, whereby penalty of Rs. 25,000/- was imposed under Section 14 of the Customs Act. The penalty was imposed on the appellant, as he was working at that time as Inspector of Customs and he has taken the sample of the goods in question which were subsequently found to be mis-declared in respect of valuation to avail the higher draw back. The allegation is that without the direction of superior, he has withdrawn the sample which was subsequently shown to the higher authorities. The allegation is also that when he was directed to make market inquiry in respect of the impugned goods, he did not made any market inquiry and submitt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e, penalty is not sustainable. The actual person who help the exporter for consideration was R.K. Saxena against whom the proceedings were dropped, in spite of the fact that his statement was corroborated by the exporter. Appellant relied upon the following decision of the Tribunal to submit that for mere dereliction of duty penalty under duty of Customs is not sustainable. Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore vs. M. Naushad reported in 2007 (210) E.L.T. 464 (Tri.-Bang.). 3. Learned SDR emphasized the findings given by the Commissioner of Customs. He also submitted that as the appellant had not made any market inquiry and endorsed the trade opinions without verification, therefore, rightly penalties under Section 114 of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Further, we find that as there is allegation of negligence and dereliction of duty only in the show cause notice and the Tribunal in the case decision relied upon by the appellant after relying upon the previous decision held that failure to perform the duty of scrutinizing/ examining the document as best be dereliction of the duty and penalties under Customs Act are not sustainable. 6. In the present case, we find even in the show cause notice, the allegation is only of negligence and dereliction of duty. There is no allegation that the same has been done for some consideration. In these circumstances, we find merit in the contention of the appellant. The impugned order is set aside and the appeal is allowed. (Dictated and pronou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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