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2012 (9) TMI 824 - AT - CustomsNon-declaration of gold in the baggage of the passenger - appeal to tribunal rejected on lack of jurisdiction - Held that:- When the goods are brought into India from a place outside India (in this case, baggage) till they are cleared for home consumption, they are considered as imported goods. In this case, before the clearance has taken place from the airport, the goods have been seized. The definition of the importer also provides that the person is considered to be importer till the goods are cleared for home consumption and when he holds himself to be an importer or the owner of the goods. In terms of above provisions, it becomes quite clear that in this case, whatever is brought by a passenger from abroad is considered as baggage and the passenger is required to make a declaration under Section 77 and till the goods are declared and cleared from Customs area (airport) after declaration, the goods remain imported goods and the person remains the importer. Going by this analogy also, the goods in this case can be considered as imported goods only and as already mentioned earlier, Section 129A provides that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction in respect of any goods imported or exported as baggage - the appeal has to be rejected as not maintainable on the Tribunal having no jurisdiction and since the jurisdiction lies with Government of India Registry is directed to transfer the file to GOI for necessary action. Since the goods under seizure are rough as well as cut and polished diamonds, they would be correctly classifiable under Heading No. 71.02 of the Customs Tariff for the purpose of levy and we hold accordingly.
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