Appellate Tribunal Upholds Thermometer Confiscation Decision

The Appellate Tribunal upheld the decision to confiscate one lakh clinical thermometers imported without the supplier being registered with BIS, imposing a Rs. 30,000 penalty on the importer. The goods worth over Rs. 12 lakhs are held by the department as security, but since redemption wasn't an option, they vested in the Central Government. The appellants must pre-deposit the penalty within 4 weeks, with a compliance report due by 21-7-2006. The appeal's early disposal request will only be considered post-compliance with the pre-deposit directive.

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Issues:
Confiscation and penalty imposed on imported clinical thermometers due to non-registration of supplier with BIS.

Detailed Analysis:
The Appellate Tribunal upheld the lower authorities' decision to confiscate one lakh pieces of Clinical Thermometers imported by the appellants in April 2005 and impose a penalty of Rs. 30,000 on the importer. The Tribunal referred to DGFT's Notification No. 44/2000, which stipulates that import of clinical thermometers into India is only permissible when the supplier is registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). In this case, the supplier was not registered with BIS, despite a sample of the goods conforming to relevant standards. Therefore, the order of confiscation and penalty were deemed prima facie valid based on the non-compliance with the registration requirement.

The Tribunal noted that the goods worth over Rs. 12 lakhs are in possession of the department, serving as security for the penalty amount. However, since the confiscation was without an option for redemption, the goods have already vested in the Central Government as per Section 126 of the Customs Act. Consequently, the appellants cannot argue that the penalty is secured by Central Government property. As a result, the Tribunal directed the appellants to pre-deposit the entire penalty amount within 4 weeks, with a compliance report due on 21-7-2006. The Tribunal also indicated that the application seeking early disposal of the appeal would be considered only after compliance with the pre-deposit directive.

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