AT partly allows the appeal of the Appellant, confirming that prior Orders corroborate evasion of customs duty and that netting-off export receivables against import payables constituted an unauthorized set-off in contravention of FEMA provisions and applicable RBI directions delegating set-off authority to AD banks (Category I). The Tribunal rejects the Appellant's characterization of the conduct as merely procedural, upholds civil liability under FEMA with penalties discretionary under Section 13(1), but exercises mitigation, reducing the penalty to Rs. 10,00,000 and directing that the Appellant's pre-deposit be adjusted against the reduced penalty. The remainder of the appeal is dismissed.
AT partly allows the appeal of the Appellant, confirming that prior Orders corroborate evasion of customs duty and that netting-off export receivables against import payables constituted an unauthorized set-off in contravention of FEMA provisions and applicable RBI directions delegating set-off authority to AD banks (Category I). The Tribunal rejects the Appellant's characterization of the conduct as merely procedural, upholds civil liability under FEMA with penalties discretionary under Section 13(1), but exercises mitigation, reducing the penalty to Rs. 10,00,000 and directing that the Appellant's pre-deposit be adjusted against the reduced penalty. The remainder of the appeal is dismissed.
Note: It is a system-generated summary and is for quick reference only.