AI OCR 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (4) TMI 1399
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....FERA 1973 for having otherwise acquired foreign exchange outside India worth US $ dollar 7,60,000/- approx. and for transferring the same to India in the garb of export proceeds. 2. Ld. Counsel for the Appellant, during the course of the hearing on 21.03.2024, contended that the case against the Appellant is based upon the statements of co-accused Shri Ratinder Pal Singh Bhatia alias Roampy Bhatia and Shri Raminder Mohan Singh alias Sunny Singh. She stated that the case was based upon the investigation under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962. It was further argued that the statements of the Appellant under Section 40 of FERA 1973 have not been relied upon. The copies of the statements are on record in the case file relating to the A....
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....owned by the same person Shri Sitaram Aggarwal. He further argued that overvalued 40,000 CD-ROMs were exported through M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd. and were subsequently imported in the name of M/s Arvind International New Delhi. He stated that against the overvalued exports remittances were received in the accounts of M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd and from there Rs. 1.68 crores were transferred to M/s Harkishan Overseas and Rs. 1.54 crores were transferred to M/s Arvind International. Perusal of the accounts revealed that as soon as the pay order was issued by M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd, the same were deposited in the accounts of M/s Harkishan Overseas and M/s Arvind International from where cash withdrawals occurred. The role of the Appellant has b....
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....oice of M/s SCIL and the Shipping bill submitted by M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd to the Customs Department. Shri Sunil Wadhwani of M/s SCIL also deposed to this effect. Shri Devender Lal of M/s Himachal Forwarding Services confirmed having sent these goods to the port for export. The remittances received by M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd were transferred to the accounts of M/s Harkishan Overseas and M/s Arvind International, from where these were withdrawn in cash. These 40,000 pieces of CD-ROMs were imported by M/s Arvind International from M/s Fevergiotti Schiteling Co. Hongkong which is evidenced by the Bill of Entry filed at Mumbai port. The Overseas enquiry revealed that M/s Landmark Exim Hongkong and M/s Fevergiotti Schiteling Co. Hongkong were....
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....h. He stated that the instruction for export of CD-ROMs were given by Shri Ratinder Pal Singh Bhatia alias Roampy Bhatia who used to enquire about export status directly from Shri Devender Lal CHA. He denied his involvement in the purchase of the CD-ROMs for export by M/s Net Compware (P) Ltd. 7. The modus operandi adopted in the present case has therefore not been disputed. The circular trading of the CD-ROMs manufactured in India being exported abroad at overvalued prices and thereafter import to India is not only corroborated by the Shipping Bill, Bill of Entry and invoice of M/s SCIL but also by the statements recorded under the Customs Act and FERA. The overseas enquiries have also corroborated the circular trading since the buyer a....
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.... Rs. 75.39 crores was matched by a hawala transaction involving transactions through a person resident outside India. Similarly, under Section 3(d), no person shall enter into any financial transaction in India as consideration for or in association with the acquisition or creation or transfer of a right to acquire any asset outside India. Money is a form of assets. The acquisition of money outside India is the acquisition of an asset. This acquisition would be subject to the FEMA and has to be in accordance with law. The Appellant was a party to financial transactions in India which constituted a consideration for the receipt of inward remittances amounting to Rs. 75.39 crores from abroad which were not backed by any lawful consideration i....
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....een made in the context of the export and import of 40,000 pieces of CD-ROMs which were supplied by an Indian manufacturer and were overvalued and mis-declared as corroborated by the documents for the export and the import. In view of the denial of his complicity for purchase of CD-ROMs which were exported and ultimately imported, not granting cross-examination of other persons to the Appellant does not seem to have resulted in any prejudice so as to call for reversal of the order and a de novo enquiry. In view of the judgment (supra) we cannot be oblivious of the fact that clandestine transactions of the nature involved in the present case, are within the peculiar knowledge of persons such as the Appellant, who was party to those transacti....