TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2004 (12) TMI 137
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....j Ram, senior intelligence officer, DRI, before whom Ferrao gave these and host of other details in his statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act, knows how swiping of ID cards is relevant to the investigation he was conducting. One may ask him. Ferrao and his wife used to visit Akil A. Rassai, a friend whom Ferrao knows for ten long years. During one such visit, Akil shared a secret that import and export business is very lucrative. Particularly yarn business is. Indeed! On the advice of Akil, Mrs. Ferrao started a proprietorship firm in the name and style of Impex Enterprises. The firm then imported two consignments of viscose rayon, filament yarn, filed two bills of entry, got them assessed, paid Rs. 11,54,100/- towards duty and awa....
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.... this Trading LLC (whatever it means) is mentioned in despatches. Not seen, only heard. In the present case, goods of Chinese origin were shipped from Dubai to India and invoiced from America. These things do happen. Mike Cobb of Imperial Trading LLC being so far away from Dubai does not exercise strict supervision over the loaders who stuff the containers meant for various destinations. This is Mike Cobb's version of things as to how the offending goods made their way to India. 5.When the officers discovered 50 cartons of mulberry silk on 23-8-2003 in the container declared to contain 553 cartons of viscose rayon filament yarn, the person handling the import, Shri Akil Rassai, was totally shocked. He wanted to know from the supplier, to....
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....e rayon filament yarn used for concealing the cartons of mulberry silk, under Section 119 of the same Act, but gave an option to redeem them on payment of a fine of Rs. 5 lakhs, imposed a penalty of Rs. 2 lakhs on Impex Enterprises under Section 112(a) and a penalty of Rs. 3 lakhs under Section 112(b) on Akil A. Rassai who knows everything about yarn trade. Then, these appeals. 8.The appellant, Imperial Trading LLC, USA, whose clerks and loaders in Dubai sent the consignment meant for U.K. to India, has been claiming ownership of mulberry silk while accepting its liability to confiscation under the various sections of the Customs Act even during the adjudication proceedings. Thus both the parties, the department and the appellant, agree ....
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....arn is not liable to confiscation under Section 119 of the Customs Act. The Commissioner's contention is that these goods are liable to confiscation, as they have been used for concealing the smuggled goods. Since we hold that an attempt has been made to conceal mulberry raw silk, we uphold the finding that the goods used for concealing are liable to confiscation under Section 119. Even in a case where the importer's personal liability is absent confiscation of goods used for concealing the smuggled goods is upheld (Vaku Sidi Patel vs. CC (Pr) [1997 (96) E.L.T. 192 (T-WZB)]. The manner in which the offending goods are concealed indicates that the importer is in know of things. We, therefore, uphold the confiscation of 551 cartons. In the fa....