2000 (12) TMI 196

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....ave been imposed upon the said appellants on the ground that the appellants have connived with the main importer for unlawful importation of the goods. The appellants have contended before the Commissioner as under :- "So far as the role of the Clearing Agent and other two individuals, Shri Tapas Chatterjee and Shri Sunil Dutta is concerned, it has been submitted on their behalf by Shri S.K. Dasgupta, ld. Consultant, that it was the Clearing Agent whose employees were able to produce the President and Vice-President of M/s. Manav Kalyan Committee before the investigating officers of DRI. It is, therefore, their case that if they were truly involved in any conspiracy with the importer, they would not have taken the trouble of finding out th....

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....lty of a serious lapse smacking of mala fide intent. It is, however, true that the Clearing Agent concerned tried to retrieve their image by co-operating with the investigation at a later stage. But the fact remains that there was a deliberate attempt not to register the subject two consignment in their case record obviously to disown any responsibility at a later stage. Admittedly also, they have not been careful in handling the documents as the eligibility certificate itself was post-dated. I am, therefore, inclined to hold that the Clearing Agent as also their two employees are liable to penalty under Section 112 (b) of the Customs Act, 1962." 3. We have heard Shri S.R. Dutta, ld. Advocate for the appellants and Shri R.K. Roy, ld. JDR f....