TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (1) TMI 624
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....ount was also imposed on the appellant under Section 114(A). Penalties of Rs. 10 lakhs on Shri Mohan Goel, Managing Director, M/s Sheel Chand Agrolls Pvt. Ltd. and Rs. 2 lakhs on Shri Surendra Bhardwaj and M/s Mahadev Overseas were also imposed under Section 112 (a) of the Customs Act, 1962. 2. The facts of the case are as under: The appellant imported a consignment describing it as "RBD Palmolein Mixture" from Sri Lanka and filed Bill of Entry dated 24.6.2004 claiming the benefit of exemption Notification No.26/2000-Cus. dated 1.3.2000 under Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) The goods were examined and representative samples drawn were sent for test to the Central Food Laboratory, Ghaziabad which gave the following test report:....
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....ission from the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka to export RBD Palmolein Mixture to India under brand name SOGO cooking oil mixture subject to condition that the product should meet the criteria laid down in the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) to qualify for tariff concessions granted under the said agreement. In the application submitted to Sri Lankan Custom it had declared the goods to be 80% imported Palmolein mixed with 20% coconut oil in the mechanized process claiming classification to be under CH 15.18 due to oversight instead of 15.17 and the Customs opinion dated 19.5.2004 valid for six month mentioned the goods classification under CH 1517.90. It was just an oversight that the commercial invoice issued by the exporter ....
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.....A-17.15 as refined vegetable oil of Appendix 'B' of the PFA Rules (1955) which obviously meant that the goods were edible. In that view the contention of the appellant that goods were correctly classifiable under CTH 15.17 as edible mixture and not under 15.18 has force of credibility specially when it is seen that the exporter had applied to the Sri Lankan Customs Authorities for export of RBD Palmolein mixture under brand name SOGO cooking oil mixture wherein it declared the ingredient to be 80% imported palmolein and 20% coconut oil mixed in the mechanized process and claimed classification under CTH 15.17 which was in accordance with the opinion of Sri Lankan Customs Authorities as is evident from the endorsement of Sri Lankan ....
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.... DIRECTOR CUSTOMS (TFA) Sig/P.G.Wijesekara) DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMS (I & T) In the wake of the aforesaid certification, there is no doubt that the goods (palmolein oil CTH 1511) imported into Sri Lanka had undergone a change at four digit level vis-a-vis the goods exported to India classifiable under 15.17. Further, in the wake of test report of FDA, the Commissioner's observation that the goods did not conform to the standards laid down under Item A-17.15 of Appendix B of PFA Rules, is without any basis. Incidentally, even if the classification is taken as CTH 15.18 even then the Country of Origin requirements remain satisfied and therefore for the purpose of assessment of duty this controversy/contention regarding classification of th....