2024 (11) TMI 18

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....tice was issued to the respondents to demand differential duty of customs alleging that the supplier of Poppy Seeds is the same from Turkey whereas the declared price shown by the respondent is very less than the Poppy Seeds imported by the other importers. Therefore, the proceedings were initiated against the respondent, but the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) relying on the Tribunal's decision dropped the proceedings against the respondents. Aggrieved from the said order, the revenue is before us. 3. Heard the Ld. Authorised Representative appearing for the Department and perused the records. 4. We find that the issue has been dealt with by this Tribunal in the case of Commissioner of Customs (Port), Kolkata v. Sawetri Trading Compan....

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....f entry to charge undervaluation. A perusal of the letter dated 30/10/2009 addressed by first secretary Moscow to the additional director general of DRI, seems to suggest that information regarding 252 consignments in the form of comparative chart were given out of which 48 cases the declared value (at Turkish Port) match with the invoice value/transaction value and in 204 cases there was significant difference. The letter further states that an exercise of segregation and co-relating such documents would be needed. It is also seen that the comparative statement set to have been filed awarded is blacked out and most of the entries have been redacted and cannot be read. The revenue has not been able to explain this satisfactorily. It is sett....

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....tled in the favour of the assessee in the case of Prabhu Dayal Premchand (supra) Jindal Strips Ltd. (supra) (etc as listed at paragraph No.3 at page 10) wherein the law has been clearly settled in favour of the appellant and we find strong force in the submissions made by the learned Counsel for appellant that on the issue in hand, the adjudicating authority has incorrectly relied upon the values of poppy seeds by considering the same from Comtrade and UK public ledger in our view the finding on this point are incorrect and not in consonance with the settled law. (c) We also note that the adjudicating authority has refused to look at other contemporaneous imports, which are not the subject matter of the present show cause notice on....

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....d on behalf of the appellant M/s. Laxmi Trading Co. that the said statement was taken during the period of Shri Arun Kapoor's detention; we find that it is so and in any event the statement was retracted by Shri Arun Kapoor by his letter of 9th December 2006, the very next day. It is also on record that Shri Arun Kapoor had informed the Additional Director, D.R.I., by a letter that the statement which was recorded was during the period of his detention hence being one of the reason for retraction. This vital factual matrix which will have a bearing on the case has been ignored by the adjudicating authority: which to our mind has led to a conclusion that there was under-valuation. It is to be noted that long after retraction by Shri Arun....

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....t investigating the fact of their declared value Though in the subsequent inquiry, the department has found that as per the public ledger international price published therein is 3200 PMT FOB Turkey however as per the judgment of this Tribunal in the case of Ajay Exports (supra) the Tribunal has catatonically held in the identical case that merely on the basis of international price published in the public ledge cannot be used for enhancement of the value. As regard the application of price of USD 2700 PMT on the basis of Bill of Entry of contemporaneous import, we find tha the bill of entry of Laxmi Trading Co. was relied upon wherein the 2700 PMT was enhanced price by the customer under the identical dispute It is a settled law that for t....