2005 (10) TMI 412

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....ed by air from various parts of the world into Air Cargo Complex, Bangalore. They are all registered and approved by the Commissioner of Customs under Section 30 of Customs Act to act as Console agents under the said section. As per Section 30 of the Customs Act, the Console agent is enjoined upon to file Import General Manifest (IGM) before arrival of the air craft. During the period from 1-8-2004 to 31-8-2004, the said Console agents filed various IGMs after the arrival of the aircraft and thus it is alleged by the Revenue that they had contravened the provisions of the said section. Hence, they were issued with a Show Cause Notice calling upon them to explain as to why penalty, in terms of the said section, should not be imposed. The app....

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....the learned SDR defended the order and justified the imposition of penalty in the matter. 4. On a careful consideration, we find that the Commissioner (Appeals) has given several reasons and has also quoted Board's Circular and the provisions of law to justify the imposition of penalties. He has taken a view that the Console agents cannot pass on the blame to some other agency as they are a link in the chain of movement of cargo. He has held that it is for them to ensure as to how they meet the deadline laid down by law. However, he has not adverted to the justification taken by the appellants that the delay in filing the IGM was not attributable to them alone but was also on account of the failure of the system of Customs EDI Syste....