CESTAT allowed the consolidated appeals filed by the anonymized...

CESTAT allowed the consolidated appeals filed by the anonymized liner and its employee, setting aside all penalties imposed under S.114(i) and 114(iii) of the Customs Act, 1962 in relation to alleged manipulation of shipping documents and facilitation of drawback fraud for exports through ICDs at Salem, Irugur and Rakkiapalayam. The Tribunal held that the appellants were not beneficiaries of any fraudulent drawback, exporters and supporting manufacturers were untraced and operated from fictitious addresses, and there was no foreign exchange realisation in the exporters' bank accounts. CESTAT further held that the adjudicating authority had travelled beyond the SCN by altering and misapplying penal provisions without due notice, thereby violating natural justice and vitiating the impugned orders in toto.

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