TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2018 (7) TMI 626
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....10/2012 vide bill of entry No. 8358278 dated 30/10/2012 wherein the declaration of the imported cargo was for import of mattresses. The Bill of Entry was filed by the Custom House Clearing Agent M/s Dilip Kumar Thakur on behalf of the importer. On the physical examination of the imported cargo, it was detected that the consignment was of cigarettes of foreign origin which was concealed in the declared cargo of mattresses totally valued at Rs. 3,40,74,000/-. 2. The above facts led to the detailed investigations which resulted in issuing of show cause notice dated 23rd April, 2013 for confiscation of mis-declared cargo as well as for penalty under Section 112A & B of the Customs Act, 1962 on various persons. The said show cause notice was ad....
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....ed which are noticee to the show cause notice. During the investigations it has also transpired that his signatures on the custom clearance papers were also forged by Shri Shekhar and he was not even aware about the admitted clearance of consignment under bill of entry No. 8358278 dated 30/10/2012. Shri Shakti Nath Jha's involvement is also not reflected in any of the statements recorded during investigation and which are the subject matter of the present order-in-original. 5. So far as the involvement of Shri Shekhar who is noticee No. 6 to the show cause notice is concerned it's a matter of record that Shri Shekhar has been working with custom house agent M/s Dilip Kumar Thakur and was issued H Card by the custom department for handling ....
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.... of Shri Sushil Sharma in the attempted smuggling is concerned, it comes out very categorically that he was supervising the work of the clearances of imported consignments on behalf of M/s Dilip Kumar Thakur, CHA and Shri Shekhar as H Card Holder and Shri Shakti Nath Jha of G Card holder were reporting to him, thus it appears that without his concurrence no consignment could be cleared under the name of CHA firm M/s Dilip Kumar Thakur. It also transpired from the statements of Shri Shekhar and Shri Sushil Kumar Sharma himself that the clearance of the seized consignment wherein foreign made cigarettes were being attempted to be smuggled into the country was discussed with him by Shri Shekhar. It also transpired that Shri Sushil Sharma was a....
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.... were aware about the consignments sensitivity of the cargo and they should have taken all the necessary step to verify the veracity of the importers credentials as well as they should have ensured that no unwarranted person makes use of their CHA license for clearance of contraband/misdeclared goods. 10. We, therefore, find that Shri Shekhar and Shri Sushil Sharma has failed to discharge their responsibility as delineated under Custom House Agent Regulation 2004. 11. We are of opinion that CHA firms are the most important link between the importer/exporter and the custom department. It is expected of CHA firm that the credentials of importer/exporter are properly verified by them before undertaking the work of clearances in the various c....