Abetment by Customs Brokers requires evidence of knowledge, conscious involvement or collusion; document processing alone cannot justify penalty.
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....Abetment of attempted export of prohibited goods requires material proving a Customs Broker's knowledge, conscious involvement or collusion. Filing shipping bills, arranging containers and processing exporter-provided documents, without more, do not establish knowing assistance; a due-diligence duty does not remove that evidentiary requirement. Failure to ascertain the meat's procurement source alone was insufficient, so the penalty was set aside. Article 226 jurisdiction was exercised despite an alternative statutory appeal because the abetment finding lacked evidentiary support, and the writ petition was entertained.....
TaxTMI