TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2005 (1) TMI 235
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....nes and filed a Bill of Entry for clearance thereof on 12-5-1999. The machines were assessed to duty on the basis of documents produced by the importer. As per the documents, the goods were shipped prior to 1-4-1999, the date from which the EXIM Policy 1997-2002 stipulated that second-hand machinery could be imported only under a specific licence. The Bill of Lading presented by the party showed 2....
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....d innocence as regards the date of shipment shown in the Bill of Lading. In the face of the department's proposal to confiscate the machines and to impose penalty on the importer, the appellants waived show-cause notice and requested for early adjudication of the case. Accordingly, the Commissioner of Customs passed the impugned order, whereby the machines were confiscated under Section 111(d) of ....
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..... Thereafter, it was not open to the department to proceed against the goods, consultant argues. It is also submitted that any manipulation of Bill of Lading was at the end of the supplier, for which the importer was not to be penalised, particularly after lawful clearance of the imported goods. These arguments are opposed by learned DR on the strength of the findings recorded by the Commissioner.....
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.... machines shipped after 1-4-1999 required specific licence for their import into India. The appellants did not have any such licence and they chose to obtain clearance under OGL. Though such clearance might smack of fraud on the Revenue, the learned Commissioner of Customs, in fairness, restrained himself from penalising the importer, after observing that there was no evidence of manipulation on t....