The Tribunal held that Section 127J of the Customs Act did not...

The Tribunal held that Section 127J of the Customs Act did not bar independent FEMA proceedings merely because the same facts had earlier been considered in Customs settlement, since FEMA operates as a self-contained code and the authority may rely on evidence separately gathered in FEMA . It further held that commission paid abroad by the foreign buyer to a foreign agent was not export proceeds due to the exporter, so no failure to repatriate arose under Sections 7 and 8 of FEMA and the RBI Master Circular on exporter-paid commission had no application. The statement of a director was treated as hearsay for earlier transactions and was insufficient to prove contravention, so the penalties were set aside.