1983 (3) TMI 295

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..... Chatterjee, JDR, for the Respondent. ORDER [Order per : I.J. Rao, Technical Member]. - This is a revision application to the Government of India which has been transferred to the Tribunal and heard as an appeal pursuant to Section 131B of the Customs Act, 1962. 2. The learned counsel for the Appellant, Shri M. Ganesan, submitted in the course of his arguments that - (a) The appellant....

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....inciples of natural justice that the onus of proving all the ingredients rested with the Revenue; (g) the Revenue has failed to establish the requisite mens rea altogether; and (h) in any view of the matter, the Appellant is concerned only with the release of 19 sets of Main Thin Walled Engine Bearings from confiscation and there is no finding at all in the orders of the Adjudication Officer....

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....resentative for the Revenue at length. 5. It is axiomatic that the proceedings relating to the levy of penalty are criminal and penal in character. It is also a fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that the requisite mens rea has to be proved before the Appellant could have been visited with a penalty. 6. A perusal of the orders of the Adjudication Officer as well as the....