9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (8) TMI 1356X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the Appellant, a proprietary concern had established a manufacturing unit in Noida SEZ [2]. The Appellant imported CRGO Electrical Steel Sheet and thereafter transferred the finished goods (lamination strips/sheets), weighing 28,920 kg, classified under Customs Tariff Item 8504 9010, from NSEZ to Domestic Tariff Area by filing Bill of Entry dated 08.05.2017. Out of the two vehicles, transporting the finished goods, only one vehicle reached the premises of M/s Rai Sonepat [3], Haryana and the other vehicle with Registration No. HR-74-1433, containing finished goods weighing 14,460 kgs, broke down just outside the NSEZ and the same was brought back inside the NSEZ owing to safety considerat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in particular Rules 2(1)(c) and 2(1)(zd) of the SEZ Rules. It is contended that Officers of Customs mentioned under Rules 2(1)(c) and 2(1)(zd) of the SEZ Rules are appointed under the SEZ Act to discharge functions as specified in the SEZ Rules and does not by the very fact of appointment confers powers and functions of Proper Officer or corresponding offices created under or operating under the Customs Act and that every Proper Officer is an Officer of customs but it cannot be said that every Officer of customs is a Proper Officer for the purposes of SEZ Act. They have placed reliance on the SEZ Instruction No.09/2011 dated 01.06.2011 issued by the Development Commissioner, SEZ, Karnataka and Kerala in respect of the role of the specified ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e. (3) Every officer or agency authorised under sub-section (2) shall have all the corresponding powers of investigation, inspection, search or seizure as is provided under the relevant Central Act in respect of the notified offences." 3. Notification No. S.O. 2665(E) dated 05.08.2016 -Notified various offences in the Customs Act as offences in the SEZ Act "S.O.2665(E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 21 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005) (hereinafter referred as the Act), the Central Government hereby, notifies the offences contained in the under-mentioned sections of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) and the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 19 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Specified Officer and Authorized Officer. These authorities have been defined in Rule 2(zd) and Rule 2(c) of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006. As such officers are creations of the said Rules, their power and authority is circumscribed by the content of the Rules and the limit of their actions shall be the specific provisions of the Rules which require them to perform a certain function in a certain context. They shall not exercise any other power or perform any function other those prescribed in the Rules except where such functions have been specifically delegated, in writing, by the Development Commissioner; in so doing, the Development Commissioner shall be guided by section 12 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005. 3. Specifi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 2 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Excise and Customs, hereby assigns the officers and above the rank of officers mentioned in Column (2) of the Table below, the functions as the proper officers in relation to the various sections of the Customs Act, 1962, given in the corresponding entry in Column (3) of the said Table:- TABLE S. No. Designation of the officers Functions under Section of the Customs Act, 1962 (1) (2) (3) .. ... ... 6. Intelligence Officer in the Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence and Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence. ... (vi) Sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 110; ... 7. Inspector of Customs and Central Excise or Preventive Offic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en violated in the instant case and have failed to establish as to how the Appellant contravened Section 111(m), Section 112(a), 112(b) and Section 114AA of the Customs Act. 10. I note that Section 110 of the Customs Act is not a notified offence for the purposes of the SEZ Act vide Notification No. S.O. 2665(E) dated 05.08.2016 and therefore, even if by virtue of Notification No.110/2003, the Preventive Officer, NSEZ has been designated as an officer of Customs for the purposes of Customs Act, however by virtue of the Notification SO 2665(E), such officer had no power to detain the subject goods in terms of Section 110 of the Customs Act as the same is not a notified offence under the SEZ Act. 11. I also find that in the absence of any n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
