Misdeclaration in imported goods requires more than a clerical discrepancy when documents consistently support lawful description.

Where imported goods were part of the same lot earlier accepted as lawfully imported, the tribunal held that confiscation for misdeclaration could not stand when the railway receipt described the consignment as silk yarn and the discrepancy in a courier covering note was only clerical. The import documents and the seizure from railway custody supported a plausible explanation, and the prior release of part of the same consignment, unchallenged by the department, further weakened the allegation. The charge of wrong description was therefore not made out, the confiscation was set aside, and consequential relief followed.

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Issues: Whether the confiscation of 15 cartons of imported silk yarn on the allegation of misdeclaration was sustainable, and whether the appellants were entitled to release of the goods.

Analysis: The goods formed part of the same lot earlier accepted as licitly imported in respect of 17 cartons seized from the same source. The Railway receipt described the consignment as silk yarn, and the discrepancy in the courier covering note was not sufficient to establish wrong description. Since the consignment was seized from railway custody and the appellants had a plausible explanation supported by the import documents, the charge of misdeclaration was not made out. The earlier release of a part of the same consignment, against which no departmental challenge had been filed, also supported the appellants' claim.

Conclusion: The confiscation was not sustained and the appellants were entitled to relief.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeal succeeded with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where seized goods are part of the same imported lot and the available documents consistently support licit import and correct description, a mere clerical discrepancy in one covering document is insufficient to establish misdeclaration or justify confiscation.

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