Home Case Index All Cases Customs Customs + AT Customs - 2019 (2) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2019 (2) TMI 31 - AT - CustomsEvasion of ADD - imports of Ceftriaxone Sodium Sterile - mis-declaration of description as well as country of origin of goods in order to avoid ADD - chemical formula was declared instead of the chemical name - N/N. 98/2008-Cus. - Held that:- The Ld. Advocate has been at pains to contend that as far as MSK International is concerned, the full chemical name was declared in the Bill of Entry and only generic name was not mentioned, hence there cannot be any charge of misdeclaration. We are not enthused by this argument. When the import of ‘Ceftriaxone Sodium’ was saddled with ADD when imported from China, it was obvious that no additional reference in such ADD notification or any alternative chemical name or formula of the said item. In any case, in the normal course of business and trade and especially imports, the goods are only known by the chemical name and certainly not by the chemical formula run into almost four lines. Then, there is no doubt in our mind that the chemical formula was declared instead of the chemical name only to trick the assessment system and to evade ADD which would have been otherwise imposable on its import. Penalty on Sujath Ali, Partner of K.S.R. Pharmacy - the entire exercise was planned and furthered by Sujath Ali - Held that:- The duty / interest has not been demanded from Sujath Ali, Partner of K.S.R. Pharmacy and hence there cannot be any penalty on the said person under Section 114A ibid also. In the circumstances, the penalty of ₹ 1,47,28,161/- imposed on Sujath Ali cannot be sustained and will require to be set aside - penalty set aside. Penalty of ₹ 1 lac imposed on Shri K. Saravanan, Proprietor of MSK International - Held that:- No doubt, Shri K. Saravanan had lent his IEC number and signed the import documents for the import and clearance of the impugned goods. But there is no evidence that he was aware of the fraud at any stage before or during the import - When the modus operandi of using the chemical formula name instead of the regular chemical name has fooled even the assessment system module of the customs authorities, it would be unjust to saddle K. Saravanan with a large penalty only for having lent IEC number - in the interests of justice the penalty of ₹ 1 lac imposed under Section 112 (b) ibid is reduced to ₹ 50,000/-. Appeal allowed in part.
|