9911796707
TMI Blog2023 (9) TMI 771X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ffending for having been misdeclared. There is no allegation that the appellant was either a party to it or was aware of any transaction between shipper and client in furtherance of such intent. A case can hardly be made out that a customs broker would, in normal course of business, be privy to misdeclaration and may, thereby, have not given proper advice or correct information to the client. It is, therefore, to be presumed, unless established to the contrary, that proper advice has been rendered to a client and that correct information has been imparted; it cannot, contrarily, be presumed upon subsequent examination of goods and hindsight that advice had not been properly rendered and that information imparted had not been verified for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... )/PS/CBS(Adj) dated 14th September 2020] of Principal Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai revoking the said licence and forfeiting security deposit under regulation 14 of Customs Broker Licencing Regulations, 2018 while imposing penalty of ₹. 50,000 under regulation 18 of Customs Broker Licencing Regulations, 2018 on the finding that acts of omission and commission on their part, in handling bill of entry no. 5126157/08.02.2018 for imports effected by M/s Twister Enterprises, had been in breach of obligations devolving on them by regulation 10 of Customs Broker Licencing Regulations, 2018. 2. The imports were found to have been misdeclared and it was revealed during investigations that documentation for entitling import by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y on the part of Inquiry officers is due to administrative compulsions. It is contended by Learned Counsel for appellant that every notice of hearing had been responded to; we, however, note that the appellant, in response to licencing authority, had not preferred such submission as fatal to the proceedings. Accordingly, it would appear that the appellant is, at least partially, not without responsibility too for delay in conclusion of inquiry proceedings. 4. Learned Counsel also submitted that the findings in the inquiry report are incorrect insofar as each of the alleged violations are concerned. According to him, the presence of witnesses was essential to establishing that the charges were unfounded considering that the obligatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ice. This is lacking in the record of proceedings. There is also no record of any evidence to suggest that the appellant had imparted incorrect information, with reference to cargo clearance, to the client during the course of handling the impugned goods. 8. The expression client has been deployed rather loosely in Customs Broker Licencing Regulations, 2018. We do not see any reason to conclude that client has to be the owner or consignee of the goods as such person may also well be nominee of the importer including employees. In any case, the rendering of advice to a client or correctness of information pertaining to clearance for a client is a matter of hearsay and the investigators have had the advantage of obtaining the pur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the importer had not been transacted with which relies on the admitted statement of the appellant which, however, did not foray into tendering of advice or verification of information furnished. 10. A tendency to be less than meticulous in drafting of charges is evident here and proceedings do acquire the characteristic of trivializing the institution of custom broker ; if they are to perform the vital role expected of them, resort to Custom Broker Licencing Regulations, 2018 has to be deliberated upon by licencing authorities in the context of each incident of breach of obligation. Disciplining of customs broker is not be entered into lightly nor receded from hastily. 11. That the appellant had not interacted with the propri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
