Transferable DEPB and DFIA licences cannot sustain confiscation, duty demand, or penalty against transferee importers after cancellation.

Transferee importers who used transferable DEPB scrips and DFIA licences were held not liable to confiscation, duty demand or penalty where the licences were later cancelled ab initio on alleged overvaluation and misrepresentation by the original exporters. The Tribunal treated the appeals as covered by earlier authority on identical facts and accepted that cancellation of the instruments did not, by itself, sustain adverse action against the transferees in the present proceedings.

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Issues: Whether the transferees of DEPB scrips and DFIA licences could be subjected to confiscation of imported goods, duty demand, and penalty after the licences were cancelled ab initio on the allegation of overvaluation and misrepresentation by the original exporters.

Analysis: The appeals arose from imports made against transferable DEPB scrips and DFIA licences and the dispute was already covered by earlier Tribunal authority on identical facts. The Tribunal accepted that the transferee importers were covered by the same adjudication and that the cancellation of the scrips and licences did not justify sustaining the confiscation, duty demand, or penalties against them in the present proceedings.

Conclusion: The transferee importers were not liable to suffer confiscation, duty demand, or penalty on the facts of these appeals.

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