1999 (5) TMI 121

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....Vaishali Transport and Forwarding Agency, appellant in Appeal No. C/52/98. The DRI investigation showed that the consignment had been booked from Bombay by Sajjan India Ltd. (SIL for short), Bombay, appellant in C/45/98, consigned to Microweb Communication Pvt. Ltd. (MCPL for short) at Varanasi, appellant in C/46/98. Rajkumar Sharma, Director of MCPL told the officers that the consignment was part of 140 bales imported in a consignment by SIL and cleared ex-bond from Bombay against passbook without payment of duty. This was confirmed by the representative of SIL. DRI did not accept this stand and issued notice proposing confiscation of the silk under clause (d) of Section 111 on the ground that it had been imported without the licence and p....

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....US $ 20 per kg which is Rs. 700/- approx. (at rate of exchange then prevailing) and the subsequent sale is at a higher price. The value in the ex-bond bill of entry includes the element of duty payable at 50% on the assessable value, which itself include the element of landing charges. This is shown in the bill of entry although the duty was not paid being exempted by notification, the import being under the passbook scheme. 5. The Collector next relies upon the absence of any markings on the seized bales and what he finds unsystematically invoicing. Neither of these stands up to examination. The panchnama itself shows that 20 out of 40 bales had marked "CRS" the initials of the supplier at Hong Kong. There was explained by the appe....

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.... have relevance directly or even indirectly to the fact in issue. Whether summons issued on Sharma was returned and delivered was not established. Even so unless it is found (which it is not) that office of the company did not exist in the stated address, it is not of relevance. The Collector apparently mixed up the address at Ranigunj at Varanasi of MPCL and the address at Bombay. While the Collector narrates that 20 of the 40 packages were found packed in "chatais" (woven mats) while other 20 were not what he concluded for this is not clear. The absence of any Custom House tag or seal on these bales is not at all suspicious. There is no practice in the Custom House of putting tags on goods cleared by it. 7. As against this the pan....