Confiscated import goods: redemption fine and penalty reduced after Tribunal found original amounts excessive

Imported goods were treated as liable to confiscation because they failed the stipulated mutilation requirements under the customs and foreign trade framework. While affirming confiscability, CEGAT held that the redemption fine and penalty were excessive in light of comparable earlier orders and the value of the goods and offending portion, and therefore reduced the redemption fine to 20% of the confiscated goods' value and the penalty to 10%, leaving one lower penalty unchanged.

---

---

Issues: Whether the redemption fine and penalty imposed on confiscated imported goods were excessive and required reduction.

Analysis: The imports were held to be liable to confiscation because the goods did not satisfy the stipulated mutilation requirements and were treated as offending goods under the customs and foreign trade framework. However, while considering the quantum of fine and penalty, the Tribunal took note of earlier orders in similar matters and of the comparative value of the goods and the offending portion. On that basis, it found that the amounts imposed in the impugned orders were on the high side and warranted reduction. The Tribunal fixed the redemption fine at 20% of the value of the confiscated goods and the penalty at 10% of such value, except in one appeal where the penalty already imposed was below that benchmark and was therefore left unaltered.

Conclusion: The redemption fine and penalty were reduced in the manner indicated, and the appeals were partly allowed.

---