2007 (6) TMI 436 - AT - Customs

Tribunal overturns penalty, citing lack of evidence, corrects valuation error, grants relief.

The tribunal allowed the appeal, finding that the revision of the goods' value and imposition of penalty were not in accordance with the law. The ... Valuation Issues: Allegation of undervaluation and mis-declaration of goods.In this case, the appellant filed a Bill of Entry for home consumption for clearance of furniture and sanitary-wares. The department alleged undervaluation of goods and asked for an explanation. The importer claimed a clerical error in the invoice and submitted a corrected invoice. The revenue referred the matter to a Chartered Engineer who valued the goods based on the local market, leading to a revision of the goods' value and imposition of a penalty.The appellant argued that there was no evidence of contemporaneous import to support the revision of value. The Chartered Engineer's use of local market value for revising the goods' value was challenged as not in accordance with the law. The appellant relied on various judgments, including the case of Eicher Tractors Ltd. v. CC, Mumbai, to support their argument.The learned JDR presented a counter argument distinguishing the judgments cited by the appellant.Upon careful consideration, the tribunal found that there was an error in the invoice which was rectified by submitting a corrected invoice. The revenue revised the value based on the Chartered Engineer's assessment using local market value. However, as there was no evidence of contemporaneous import from the same country, the Chartered Engineer's valuation was deemed unacceptable. The tribunal referenced the Customs Act and Valuation Rules, as well as the Eicher Tractors Ltd. case, to highlight the conditions for revising transaction value. It was concluded that the revision of value and imposition of penalty were not in accordance with the law. Therefore, the appeal was allowed based on the cited judgments, with any consequential relief granted.