TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (12) TMI 401
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....re destined for Silliguri, West Bengal. On being asked, the driver could not produce any document covering the said goods and the departmental officers seized the same on the reasonable belief that the goods have been illegally imported into India. Shri Shyam Mondal and Shri Samir Ghosh came forward and claimed ownership of the seized vehicles but they disassociated themselves from the goods found on the vehicles. One Shri Rajesh Lapang of M/s. Lapang Eco Products, Byrenihat, Meghalaya claimed ownership of the seized goods. In his statement, he stated that the goods were loaded in the trucks for despatch to Silliguri and that trucks were arranged by his Manager, Shri Sanjib Dhar. He also submitted that he was not in possession of NOC from t....
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....ties. 4. Aggrieved by the impugned order, the present appeals have been filed by Shri Rajesh Lapang as well as the owner of the two vehicles. 5. With the above background, we heard Shri N. Dasgupta, Advocate and Shri S.N. Mitra, A.C. (A.R.) for the parties. 6. The Ld. Counsel for the appellants drew our attention to the three invoices No.4,5 & 6 dated-13/01/2016, said to be issued by M/s. Lapng Eco Products in favour of the buyers of the Supari-M/s. Rafique Traders, Purnia, Bihar. He claimed these invoices were in respect of the goods seized. He further, claimed that the appellants had procured betel nuts from various farmers in Meghalaya by making payment in cash. He also argued that betel nuts were not commodities , specified in ....
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.... in the light of the recent trend of smuggling of Dry Betel Nuts as evidence by several seizures made by the Customs Department.Other than such a view expressed, we find that Customs Department has not managed to recover any evidence regarding the origin of the seized goods. There is absolutely nothing on record to even remotely suggest that such goods are of foreign origin. Betel nuts is also not a commodity notified under Section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962 and hence, the onus is on the Department to prove that the goods are of foreign origin and smuggled in India. Further, there is no export or trade information from any knowledgeable person to indicate that the category or quality of the seized betel nuts are not found in India. Loc....
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.... goods from NCCF and the cooperative societies have mentioned the invoice numbers of NCCF under which the goods were bought by them (i.e., the cooperative societies). The adjudicating authority has essentially relied on the visual opinion of the Customs authorities that the goods are similar to the goods which are smuggled from Nepal and statements of the cooperative society and NCCF personnel given after visual examination of the impugned goods that they are not those sold by them. There is force in the appellants contention that the goods were sold to NCCF in the month of March, 2008, which in turn were sold by the cooperative societies in the month of April, 2008 and were further sold by M/s. Bahubali Attractions Pvt. Ltd. in the month o....