2023 (8) TMI 1159

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....ced before the Customs Officials towards the consignment being transported. 2. On 21/01/2013, the present Appellant Shri Madan Kumar submitted an application claiming the ownership of the consignment and sought provisional release of the Betel Nuts. He claimed that he was transporting the betel nuts from Motihari to Patna for sale. On the way, it was seized by the Customs officials. He submitted that the Betel Nuts were purchased from M/s. Om Sai Enterprises vide Bill No. 55 dated 24/12/2012. In turn M/s Om Sai Enterprise had purchased the said goods on 28/09/2012 by participating in the E-Auction conducted by the Customs Division, Motihari. The goods were released provisionally after depositing Rs. 1,50,000/- as Redemption Fine and paymen....

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....have in their Recorded Statements clarified that they have participated in the E-Auction conducted by the Customs Division, Motihari and bought the same on 28/09/2012. Therefore, the Appellant has been able to satisfactorily explain that the Betel Nuts in question were bought within India and are of Indian Origin only. Considering these factual details and the evidence produced in by the Appellant, he submits that the Adjudicating Authority is in a gross error in ignoring the same and imposing the Redemption Fine and penalty on the Appellant. Accordingly, he prays that the present Appeal may be allowed. 4. The Learned AR submits that it is an admitted fact that the truck was intercepted at Chhapwa located in between Raxual and Motihari. Wh....

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.... purchase and selling of the said goods having no license for purchase and sale of goods and does not have any Income Tax PAN Number. In such a case, he has failed to prove evidence of payment of Rs. 2,97,675/- plus Vat for a single transaction when financially he is not strong. Therefore, the Adjudicating Authority held that the goods in question were being transported from Raxul (Nepal) and were of foreign origin having no licit documents. Accordingly, the AR submits that the present Appeal is required to be dismissed. 5. On a query from the Bench about the copy of the Invoice No. 55 dated 24/12/2012 which the Appellant claims to be the purchase Invoice, the Learned Advocate submits that the copy is not available. The Bench has also quer....

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....sed the same along with the Appeal Papers and Synopsis filed today. Since the amount involved under this Invoice is for Rs.3,42,000/-, the Appellant is not in a position to say as to how this payment was made to the vendor. Another unanswered question is what was the serial number of Invoice raised by the Appellant when the goods were being transported from Motihari to Patna. No copy of the sale Invoice has been produced before the Adjudicating Authority nor have they done so before the Tribunal. There is no proper explanation forthcoming as to why the truck has proceeded in the northern direction towards Chhapwa when Patna was located to the south of Motihari. Had the Appellant produced these details before the Adjudicating Authority then ....