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2016 (7) TMI 1120 - AT - CustomsLevy of penalty on courier company - charge of abetment - mis-declaration of goods - Original Authority ordered the confiscation of goods; imposed penalty of ₹ 5 lakhs on the consignee of the parcel; imposed a penalty of ₹ 1 lakh and ₹ 25,000/- on the present appellants; dropped proceedings against two customs officers. - Held that:- the Original Authority recorded that the courier bill of entry is having endorsement of the officer for having examined the consignments. Apparently this has been admitted by the Original Authority irrespective of the fact that the second appellant in his statement given before the officers alleged to have admitted that no examination was done of the consignment. The Original Authority held that in the absence of any positive evidence the charge of abetment cannot be proved against the two customs officers who were also issued with notice for penalty under Section 112. He further held that there is no charge of malafide on the part of officers and also no charge of any pecuniary benefits accruing to the said officers. All these go to show that the officers have discharged their duty and the goods have been cleared after due examination. It is not clear then how the mis-declared item could be detected at the TNT hub of the courier company much away from the custom area. Different standards have been followed by the Original Authority in examining the charge of abetment - one for the customs officers the other for courier company and its employee. On the one hand he held that the officers discharged their duty though it is clear that if the examination has been done before clearance as recorded by the Original Authority, the mis-declaration could not have escaped detection. However, for such mis-declaration the courier company has been found liable for penalty. It is apparent that while appreciating the factual evidence, the Original Authority did not follow consistency and arrived at different conclusions on same set of facts. I find that while the statements given by the officers have been accepted as truth, the statement given by the employee of courier company has been discounted selectively, at least w.r.t. the fact of examination of cargo before clearance. Charge of abetment cannot be sustained against the appellant in the facts and circumstances of the case. - No penalty - decided in favor of appellant.
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