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TMI Blog2023 (2) TMI 287X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iod of ninety days from the date of the Offence Report. Since the notice in this case, was issued beyond the period of ninety days from the Offence Report, the impugned order cannot be sustained - It is also not disputed that the petitioner has not acted as a Customs Broker in respect of exports under the offending Shipping Bills. Petition allowed. - HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIBHU BAKHRU AND HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN For the Petitioner Through: Mohd. Faraz Anees, Advocate. For the Respondent Through: Mr Harpreet Singh, Senior Standing Counsel. VIBHU BAKHRU, J. 1. The petitioner has filed the present petition impugning an order dated 31.12.2020 (Order-in-Original No.126/Mk/Policy/2020 hereafter the impugned order ) passed by the respondent revoking the petitioner s Customs Broker License (CB License No. R-07/2004), which was otherwise valid up to 10.10.2028. In addition, the respondent had also directed forfeiture of the security deposit by the petitioner and levied a penalty of ₹50,000/- on the petitioner. 2. The petitioner claims that the said order is without jurisdiction and has been issued beyond the period of ninety days fro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , TKD, New Delhi, which was received in the office of the respondent on 31.10.2019. It is alleged that certain exporters had exported goods described as Floor Covering (Braided) of Man-Made Fiber and had claimed Duty Drawback and the benefit of Focus Product Scheme by resorting to mis-declaration of description of the goods as well as their value. 7. It is stated that intelligence was gathered in regard to such exports and was shared with the office of the Commissioner of Customs, ICD, TKD. The Commissioner of Customs, ICD, TKD had requested the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to take over the investigations. Thereafter, investigations were initiated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence DRI (Hqrs.) in respect of the alleged misdeclarations. 8. The Officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) undertook investigations relating to exports of floor coverings by 21 exporters under 266 shipping bills. It is alleged that the investigations revealed that there were mis-declarations and were highly overvalued to illegally avail the benefits of duty drawback and focus product scheme. It was also alleged that investigations revealed that several exporters were non-e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngaged by any of the exporters to deal with the export of the impugned goods and therefore the question of violation of any of the above-quoted provisions of CHALR [sic CBLR-2013] by the appellant simply does not arise. The learned Tribunal, accordingly, held that the grounds on which the petitioner s license was suspended were unsustainable. Admittedly, the findings of the learned Tribunal in Him Logistics Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs, New Delhi (supra) were not challenged. 12. According to the petitioner, one Air Cargo Impex had acted as a Customs Broker for the exports mentioned in the impugned order. It is claimed that neither the petitioner nor HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. has acted as a Customs Broker in respect of the shipments in question and therefore, their license cannot be revoked for violations of any of the obligations of a Customs Broker under the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2013 or Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018. However, the respondent had proceeded to pass an order revoking the license of M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. and thus, in any event respondent could not simultaneously revoke the petitioner s license on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... utedly, the Offence Report in respect of the said offence had been forwarded by DRI to the respondent by a letter dated 16.02.2015. 18. Pursuant to the Show Cause Notice dated 24.01.2020, issued to M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd., the respondent passed an order dated 30.09.2020 revoking the CB License of M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Undisputedly, the allegations made in the Show Cause Notices dated 24.01.2020 issued to the petitioner and M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. were similar. 19. M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. had challenged the order dated 30.09.2020 revoking its license before the learned Tribunal (Customs Appeal No. 51139/2020 captioned M/s HLPL Global Logistics Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs). The said appeal was allowed by an order dated 06.09.2022. The learned Tribunal found that the Show Cause Notice dated 22.10.2019 could not be treated as an Offence Report because the said Show Cause Notice arises out of the Offence Report dated 16.02.2015. The operative part of the said decision reads as under: 19. The Department clearly committed an error in initiating proceedings for revocation of the Customs Broker License of the appellan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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