Penalty parity in customs cases led to reduction where restricted fire crackers were imported without the required licence.

Imported fire crackers were treated as restricted goods brought in without the required licence, and the merits of the customs violation were left undisturbed. The surviving issue was only the quantum of penalty under Sections 112A and 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962. Applying parity with a connected appeal involving similar facts and comparable goods, the Tribunal held that the higher penalties imposed in the other appeals were excessive. The penalty in one appeal was upheld, while in the remaining appeals the penalties were reduced to more moderate levels.

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Issues: Whether the penalties imposed under Section 112A and Section 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962 were excessive and required reduction on parity with the penalty imposed in the connected appeal.

Analysis: The imported fire crackers were treated as restricted goods imported without the required licence, and the order on merits was not disturbed. The only surviving dispute was the quantum of penalty. The Tribunal found that, on identical facts and with a similar value of goods, one appeal had attracted substantially lower penalties, while the penalties in the other appeals were much higher. On that comparison, the higher penalties were held to be excessive, and the lower quantum was considered appropriate.

Conclusion: The penalty in one appeal was upheld and that appeal was dismissed, while in the remaining appeals the penalties were reduced to Rs. 2 lakh under Section 112A and Rs. 1 lakh under Section 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962.

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