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TMI Blog1986 (4) TMI 55X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t mentioning whether they were of prime or secondary grade. 3. The goods having arrived at Calcutta port on or about October 24, 1981 the petitioners filed the necessary bills of entry dated November 7, 1981. 4. However, on January 25, 1982 the Assistant Collector of Customs issued a notice to the petitioner No. 1 intimating that the correct value of the goods would be US Dollars 2200 per metric tonne c.i.f., Calcutta, being the value at which the MMTC imports prime quality stainless steel from different other countries and thus the petitioners having made mis-declaration, the goods were liable to confiscation under Section 111(d) and 111(m) of the Customs Act, 1962. 5. According to the petitioners the Customs authorities were working ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e-IX) is bad in law since it was issued without application of mind. According to Mr. Bajoria the notice instead of being specific regarding the real point at issue is absolutely vague and keeps the petitioners in total darkness about the objection which they would be required to meet in the adjudication proceedings. In this connection my attention was drawn to Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962 which provides that no order confiscating any goods or imposing any penalty shall be made unless the owner of the goods or the person concerned is given a notice in writing informing him all the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose a penalty. 9. It was contended by Mr. Bajoria that since the impugned show cause no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ar prime quality stainless steel imported from different other countries by MMTC are valued at approx. US Dollars 2200.00 per M/Ton and more. Hence the value declared by the party US Dollars 1600.00 cannot be accepted as correct. The correct value to the best of judgment should be US Dollars 2200.00 per M/Ton CIF. On the basis of the CIF price at Rs. 220/- the total CIF price for both the consignments works out to be Rs. 12,12,222.63 and the assessable value works out to be Rs. 18,24,516.66. It, therefore, appears that the value of the two consignments have been misdeclared to the extent of Rs. 3,33,259.16. Had not this been detected, there would have been loss of duty to the tune of Rs. 7,51,408.11 P. The goods are, therefore, liable to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ement Group III." 11. It was contended on behalf of the petitioners that a reading of the notice simply shows that the petitioners had merely undervalued the goods, viz., "Prime quality stainless steel sheets" which they had allegedly imported. There is nothing in the notice to indicate that there was any misdeclaration by the petitioners as to the nature of the goods which were sought to be confiscated under Section 111(d) and 111(m) of the Customs Act. 12. Now, Section 111 of the act givers a list of the goods brought from a place outside India which are liable to confiscation. Clause (d) of the section relates to the goods imported or attempted to be imported contrary to any provision imposed by or under the Customs Act or any other ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... petitioners, what the Customs authorities were out to establish. 18. It is, however, needless to mention that the notice should have been more specific and it would have been undoubtedly desirable for the customs authorities to mention in the notice that the goods imported, though said to be secondary grade stainless steel sheets, were found on physical examination by the Custom officials to be of prime quality. But, nevertheless, the fact remains that the notice carried its complete message to the petitioners, the importers, whatever a layman's interpretation of the same may be. This is more than clear from the different averments made by the petitioners in the writ petition. 19. So far as the valuation is concerned, there is no dispu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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