TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (3) TMI 569
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.... Bills no. 6763425 and 676386 both dated 25.11.2020 by M/s Hiba Enterprises, by using cancelled GSTIN registration. The said information was passed to the office of Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex (Export), NCH, New Delhi, who were also requested to conduct detailed examination of the consignment covered by the above referred Shipping Bills. Based on above said information, both the Shipping Bills were put on hold by the SIIB for detailed examination. No goods were found registered on the above referred Shipping Bills on the ICES. However, Shipping Bills No. 6884966 dated 01.12.2020 and 6921244 dated 02.12.2020 were found filed on the IEC of M/s Hiba Enterprises. On examination of the goods, in the presence of Sh. Jagdish Prasad, G Card Holder of the appellant, it was found that the exporter had declared one type of set of box Airtel/Airtel, but three types of different brands of boxes i.e. Airtel/Sun HD, Direct/Tata Sky Set top Boxes including accessories viz. Remote, connecting cable and power adapter were found. Investigations revealed that M/s Hiba Enterprises had purchased the goods from M/s Chhipa Sales & Services, Neemach, MP. The purchase invoice did not bear the....
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....pport to deal with the situation. The learned counsel also submitted that an employee who does any act which is beyond his authorisation, the management cannot be held responsible. Further, the CB License is of the year 1989, there has not been any other infraction till this case which is also not due to their fault. He submitted that post this case, the appellant has filed more than 50 Bills of Entry, and no discrepancy had been found. 3.2 The Learned Counsel further submitted that a bare reading of the provisions of Section 188 of the Indian Contract Act makes it clear that an agent having an authority to do an act has authority to do every lawful thing which is necessary in order to do such act. In the present case, the appellant CB had authorized Shri Ajay Sharma as their G card to transact the business of Custom House Agent and he had the authority to do every lawful thing which was necessary in order to do such an act. However, he cannot be said to have been authorized to do illegal acts, which he did and, therefore, the appellant CB being the principle cannot be held responsible for his illegal acts. In the present case, the moment, the appellant CB became aware of the unla....
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....e modus operandi of Shri Ajay Sharma. The F card holder has even terminated his service immediately and also lodged an FIR against Shri Ajay Sharma. 3.3 The learned counsel submitted that as regards the allegation of violation of the Regulation 10(d), 10(e), 10(m) and 10 (n) are concerned, he submitted that in the facts as enumerated, the appellant CB cannot be said to have violated the said Regulations. He submitted that Regulation 10 (d) requires the appellant CB to advise his client to comply with the provisions of the Act, other allied Acts and the Rules and Regulations thereof, and in case of noncompliance, the appellant CB is required to bring the matter to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner/ Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be. In the instant case, Shri Ajay Sharma was the sole incharge handling the CHA business at Delhi office and he himself had connived with the clients behind the back of the appellant CB. Once the appellant CB became aware of the illegal act of his employee, he was immediately suspended. Similarly, in relation to Regulation 10 (e) as well Shri Ajay Sharma had acted dishonestly out of greed without the knowledge of any of the senior o....
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....by SIIB, ACC(Export) revealed that the IEC of M/s HIBA Enterprises was used for filing of Shipping Bills for export consignments belonging to other exporters. The said IEC was misused by the appellant CB without the knowledge of the IEC holder. Therefore, there was clear violation of 10(d)/(e) of CBLR, 2018. In the present case, as the name of actual exporter was not declared before Customs and the question of exercising due diligence to ascertain the correctness of information as prescribed under Regulation 10(e) does not arise. The learned Authorised Representative further submitted that it is evident from the investigations that the appellant CB had abetted the export deliberately with the intention to avail monetary gains and also failed to take basic precaution while conducting his business. Consequently, the appellant CB did not discharge his obligation mandated under Regulation 10(m) of the CBLR, 2018. In the instant case, Shri Ajay Sharma, Senior Manager of the appellant CB company in his voluntary statement recorded under section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 admitted that KYC documents of M/s. HIBA Enterprises was not collected. Further, the name of actual exporters was n....
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....Obligations of Customs Broker.-A Customs Broker shall - ........................................................................................................... (d) advise his client to comply with the provisions of the Act, other allied Acts and the rules and regulations thereof, and in case of non-compliance, shall bring the matter to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be; (e) exercise due diligence to ascertain the correctness of any information which he imparts to a client with reference to any work related to clearance of cargo or baggage; (m) discharge his duties as a Customs Broker with utmost speed and efficiency and without any delay; (n) verify correctness of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) number, Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN),identity of his client and functioning of his client at the declared address by using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information; .........................." [emphasis supplied] We find that the adjudicating authority has discussed his findings against each violation of the CBLR, 2018. 5.3 We now address the main subm....
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....sh Nanda had advised Shri Sharma to file shipping bills without drawback benefit, and also indicate the free shipping as sample, to ensure that the Customs authorities will not track such transactions, and would also help in dummy exporters to pay the appellant more, for facilitating exports, without getting them registered. Shri Sharma has also alleged in this statement that some of the consignments exported through M/s Hiba Enterprises were done by two people namely, Ms. Sayana Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta, who were friends with Shri Ajay Kochhar, who is the brother of Shri Vijay Kochhar, Managing Director of the appellant. When he had apprised Shri Vijay Kochhar of the modus operandi of exports using the IEC of another exporter, Shri Kochhar had advised him to work with Ms Sayana Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta, and to carry out their directions. Subsequent to this, Shri Sharma has stated that the IEC of M/s Hiba was used for camouflaging the identity of M/s Dewar World Design, of Ms Sayana Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta. In the face of such statement, it is not possible to accept the submissions of the learned Counsel that they were completely unaware of the activities of their Senior ....
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....misrepresenting the CHB before the Customs Authorities." Similarly, in the case of M/s Prabhu Shipping Systems vs Commissioner of Customs, Tuticorin [MANU/CC/0155/2021], the Tribunal has held as follows : "10. We have considered the arguments of both the sides and perused the records. 11. The CBLR, 2018 places several responsibilities upon the Customs Broker. The Customs Broker assumes a very important role in the processing of imports and exports of goods and related documentation under the Customs Act and acts as a pivot in the operation of Customs House in supervision of imports and exports. For this reason, the license is not given to anyone and everyone but is given only after conducting an examination to verify its knowledge of the customs procedures and checking its credentials. Thereafter, the Customs Broker is expected to act responsibly. It is true that the Customs Broker may not have the knowledge of any mis-declaration of the quantity, nature and value of the goods by the importer/exporter. However, the Customs Broker has to fulfill its obligations laid down in Regulation 10. 12. The Customs Broker licensed in one Customs House is also permitted to operate in ....