2015 (1) TMI 1077

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..... The appellant seeks admission of the above appeal, by raising the following substantial questions of law : - 1. Whether the first respondent authority and the second respondent Tribunal is correct in holding that the charges of Section 114(i) of Customs Act, 1962 is made out in the facts and circumstances of the case against the appellants warranting imposition of penalty against the appellant? 2. Is the second respondent Tribunal right in attaching importance to the alleged confessional statement of the appellant, especially when the same has been retracted and such confessional statement have not been corroborated by any independent evidence? 3. Whether the respondents are right in coming to the conclusion that t....

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....rade Policy 2004-09. 4. In the show cause notice, the role played by the appellant was stated and reference was also made to the statements recorded from the appellant under Section 108 of the Customs Act. The appellant submitted his reply on 21-4-2008 denying the allegations made against him and stating that he is innocent and prayed for dropping the proposal to levy penalty and take action under the provisions of the Customs Act. The Adjudicating Authority considered the case on merits and observed that the appellant, Mr. K. Ramasubbu @ Ramesh and Martin Luther have spoken about the material role played by Mr. Alibhai of Chennai and Mr. Anbu of Madurai, but did not provide any vital clues about the whereabouts and therefore, he co....

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....reached Tuticorin Port, which was intercepted by the DRI officer before its loading into the scheduled vessel and on examination of the container revealed that it contained 18.66MT of Red Sanders logs and 800 Cartons of Safety Matches. 5. Further, the Adjudicating Authority in paragraph 42 (xvii) detailed the role played by the appellant as to how he met the other accomplice Mr. Alibhai in Madurai and how the entire operations were overseen by the appellant. Further, the statement recorded from the appellant under Section 108 of the Customs Act was referred to, wherein the appellant admitted his involvement and also the involvement of Mr. Alibhai and Mr. Ramasubbu @ Ramesh in the illicit export of Red Sanders Wooden logs. The belate....