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2015 (12) TMI 1253 - AT - CustomsConfiscation of goods - Penalty u/s 117 - Held that:- No doubt the goods may be liable to confiscation strictly going by the proviso to Section 111(d) read with Foreign Trade Act. However the Revenue never chose the option of imposing penalty under Section 112 at the original stage in all these cases and not resorting to confiscation, in my opinion it is too late or the matter to be reopened. The proper course to be adopted would have been to remand the matter to the original authority so that the importers are given an opportunity to contest proposal for confiscation, imposition of redemption fine (in the absence of goods) and imposition of penalty under Section 112. It is settled law that when goods are not available and have already been released on payment of duty, they cannot be confiscated. Only in the case of provisional assessment where goods are released conditionally, confiscation can be resorted to and fine can be imposed if the goods are not available. - for the only offence of not having the IE Code at the time of importation, imposing penalty under Section 112 and remanding the matter for that purpose may not be necessary. It is not the case that no penalty has been imposed on the importers in this case. In my opinion under these circumstances penalty imposed by the original authority in all the cases will serve the purpose and therefore I consider that it would not be appropriate to consider the appeals - Decided against Revenue.
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