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2016 (12) TMI 521 - HC - CustomsImposition of penalty - section 130 of Customs Act, 1962 - mens rea - Held that: - upon examination on the material available on record, it becomes abundantly clear that in fact, the assessee was found guilty of mens rea of tempering with the goods that he was seeking to export. In the garb of exporting basmati rice, the assessee was trying to take out non-basmati rice which was clearly prohibited. There is a clear finding of fact recorded by the tribunal that not only was the assessee attempting to play fraud but also upon re-examination of the sample reports, it was found that the assessee had actually tried to export consignments of non-basmati rice which were prohibited to be exported by a Notification No.: 39 (RE-2008)/2004-09 dated 19.9.2008 and in fact, it was found that every container was loaded with 55 bags of basmati rice and 430 bags of non-basmati rice and, therefore, the plea as made by learned counsel for the assessee that it was a case of mishandling of goods during loading, cannot be taken to be true. It was a deliberate strategy to keep the basmati rice in the front of container in order to avoid the detection of the non-basmati rice which was sought to be taken out surreptitiously - The imposition of penalty, therefore, is justified - appeal dismissed - decided against appellant-assessee.
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