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2023 (5) TMI 1086 - AT - CustomsLevy of penalty u/s 112(a) of Customs Act, 1962, and u/s 114AA of Customs Act, 1962 - mis-declaration of imported goods - allegation that import export code (EC) had been procured illicitly - HELD THAT:- It is on record that bill of entry had not been filed under section 46 of Customs Act, 1962 for imported of the said goods. Accordingly, scope for invoking of section 111(m) of Customs Act, 1962 for confiscation of goods arising from misdeclaration and, in the absence of documents available on record, the ingredients for invoking of section 114AA of Customs Act, 1962 did not exist. All documents available till then are limited to those mandated by section 30 of Customs Act, 1962 upon carrier of goods. Penalties are not imposable on the presumption that goods are likely to be misdeclared or to be attempted to be cleared against false declaration and incorrect material. Confiscation under section 111(d) appears to have been invoked in a routine manner inasmuch as the impugned goods are not prohibited for import. Until bill of entry is filed, the identity of the importer, and lack of ‘import-export code (IEC)’ will not be known. Though adjudicating authority has invoked the provisions of Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 without any empowerment to do so, and ostensibly to bring the appellant within the scope of Customs Act, 1962 in circumstances initiating proceedings even before bill of entry was filed, that law, intended to be invoked for prosecution as a consequence of holding property in ‘benami’ as well as for interdiction of such property, exists as an independent statute not amenable for concatenation with Customs Act, 1962 by any enabling provision. The impugned order, failing to sustain under law, is set aside and appeal allowed.
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