TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (2) TMI 1024
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....issible DEPB credit of Rs. 11,59,683/-. Adjudicating allegations of mis-declaration of value and description of the export goods to avail undue DEPB credit, the Commissioner confiscated the goods denying the claim for DEPB credit and imposed penalties under Section 114 of the Customs Act, 1962 (the Act) on various persons. A penalty of Rs. 25,000/- was imposed on Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar under Section 114 of the Customs Act, 1962 (the Act) for facilitating the attempt to illegally export the consignment of cheap clothes in the guise of 'ladies nightwear' over invoicing its value. Separate action was initiated against the CHA under the CHALR. On 8-4-2004, the licence of the CHA was suspended under Regulation 20(2) of CHALR. An enquiry was conducted under the regulations and the Inquiry Officer submitted a report to the Commissioner. M/s. H.B. Cargo Services had 10 signed blank shipping bills to Transasia Shipping. From the various statements recorded from Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar, partner and authorized signatory of M/s. H.B. Cargo Services, the Commissioner found that the CHA had not exercised adequate caution/diligence when it had signed blank shipping bills without knowing the ex....
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.... with the provisions of Regulation 13 of CHALR 2004 and rendered themselves unfit to continue operations as CHA in the Customs station. Accordingly, the Commissioner revoked the licence of the CHA under Regulation 20 and also forfeited the security furnished with the Department vide the impugned order. 3. In the appeal before the Tribunal, the impugned order is assailed mainly on the following grounds :- The Inquiry Officer had arranged to record a statement of Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar under Section 108 of the Act. This was contrary to provisions of Regulation 22 of CHALR, as the inquiry officer himself had to hear the CHA. As per the enquiry report, the appellant himself (Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar) had filed the shipping bills on behalf of the exporter and therefore the finding that Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar had signed the blank shipping bills without knowing the exporter was incorrect. The appellant knew the exporter. The consignment was stuffed in the four containers at the manufacturer's premises in the presence of Central Excise officers and the stuffed containers arrived at the Customs station with intact seals. The officers who had supervised the stuffing of the conta....
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....9 (Mad.)]. 6. We have carefully perused the case records and considered the rival submissions. We find that it is reliably established in the proceedings that the Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar, partner of the appellant firm, had sold 10 signed blank shipping bills to M/s. Transasia Shipping for a consideration of Rs. 150/- per shipping bill. Various statements recorded from Shri C.N. Rajendra Kumar and his admission during hearing before the Commissioner establish this finding. The appellant was punished for his role in abetting the attempt to illegally export consignments of rags and cheap clothes under the claim for inadmissible DEPB credit and penalty of Rs. 25,000/- was imposed on him under Section 114 of the Act by the Commissioner. The system of clearance of consignments for import and export through authorized CHA has been put in place to ensure that illicit trade does not take place and the CHAs are appointed by the department after following prescribed procedure to guard against the departmental authorities having to deal with strangers who could mislead officers and defraud the revenue or compromise the security of the nation. CHAs are made accountable for the truth of the ....
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....as custom house agent license is proved as stated in the above paragraphs." 8. We find that in the instant case the export consignment presented was in sealed containers stuffed at the factory premises of the manufacturer under the supervision of the Central Excise officers. Even if the exporter had engaged any other CHA for entering the impugned consignment for export, the CHA would have filed the shipping bills with the description and value following the details in the accompanying ARE-2s. That the exporter in the instant case had used the signed shipping bills which the department found to have been sold for consideration by the appellant would not have made any difference to the subsequent events that unfolded. Goods stuffed under the supervision of Central Excise officers and arriving at the Customs station in sealed containers are not usually subjected to examination before export. Examination and detection of the infractions came about obviously on account of the specific intelligence received by the investigating agency. Therefore, the conclusion of the enquiry officer as regards the appellant's contribution to the attempted fraud does not appear to be correct. To that ....
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....ation of licence on the grounds of non-compliance with the various conditions prescribed under Regulation 14 of CHALR, 1984 (as in the instant case) relying on the decision of the Tribunal in the Falcon case (supra). It was found that in the absence of any evidence of fraud or collusion engaged in by the appellant, the offence found against the CHA was not grave enough to warrant revocation of the licence. 11. We have also considered the judicial authorities relied on by the Revenue. The important ratio of Jasjeet Singh Marwaha case (supra) is as follows : "7.4 In so far as question no. 4 is concerned, we are of the view that since a CHA acts on behalf of the importer, it is not only his obligation to ensure that the entries made in the bill of entry are correct but also that a true and correct declaration of value and description of goods is made, and in the event of any infraction such as misdeclaration, he can be penalized under the Regulation results in a misconduct which is of the nature which renders him unfit to transact the business of a CHA, at the Customs Station." 12. The Hon'ble High Court also held that contrary to various earlier decisions of the Tribunal, st....