9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (2) TMI 188X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rder has also been dismissed. The facts giving rise to the present proceedings may be summarised as under: 2. The petitioner is a sole proprietorship concern engaged in the business of breeding and maintaining race horses in a farm at Gurgaon in the State of Haryana. In the course of its business, the petitioner imports Stallions and brood mares to produce off-springs which are eventually used for racing purposes. The petitioner's case, as set out in the writ petition, is that a Stallion named 'Black Cash' was purchased by M/s. Allan Perry Bloodstock Services in an auction held on 9th November, 2002 at a price of US$ 65,000. According to the petitioner Black Cash was, subsequent to its sale, found to have serious fertility problems which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iring the petitioner to explain why penalty and interest should not be imposed upon the petitioner. 4. On receipt of the show cause notice aforementioned, the petitioner filed an application under Section 127B of the Customs Act for settlement of the case before the respondent Settlement Commission at Mumbai. The petitioner also made an application for transfer of the hearing of the case to principal bench of the Commission in Delhi which request was granted and the matter transferred to the principal bench for hearing and disposal. The proceedings before the Commission eventually resulted in an order dated 13th July, 2004 whereby the petitioner's application was rejected on the ground that it had not made a full and true disclosure. Aggr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t encompass the entire material placed before the Commission by the parties pursuant to its directions, as was the position in the instant case. In as much as the Commission had directed the petitioner to clarify whether at the time of clearance any certificate was obtained from Port Health/Quarantine authorities regarding any defect as also the basis on which the value of the Stallion was raised to US$ 32,000, it was obligatory for the Commission to hear the matter further after such clarification had been furnished in the context of the material placed on record. It was also submitted that apart from the clarifications sought from the petitioner, even the Revenue had been asked to clarify as to how the auction price was being adopted by i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edings held on 13th May, 2005, recounted the facts giving rise to the controversy before it and the contentions urged on behalf of the parties. Having done that, it considered it appropriate to seek certain clarifications from the parties on points that were summed up in the following passage of its order passed on 14th May, 2004: "The Bench sought clarifications from the applicant on, whether at the time of clearance, any certificate obtained from the Port Health/Quarantine authorities regarding any defect, and also the basis on which they now seek to raise the value of US$ 32,000/-. He was further asked whether the applicant can given the chain of transactions including the price from the original bidder till the agent of the applicant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ctions issued by the Commission, filed additional documents and explanations aimed at supporting their respective versions. Any hearing afforded by the Commission prior to the production of the said additional material could not possibly deal with the said additional material which was placed before the Commission only after its order dated 14th May, 2004 was passed. It is trite that a hearing has to be meaningful. It is not a ritual to be performed without any visible gain. A hearing under Section 127C was meant to afford to the petitioner an opportunity to explain the documents it was relying upon or those which were pressed into service against it by the opposite party. The petitioner was, in that view, justified in its expectation that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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