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2023 (3) TMI 956 - AT - CustomsRevocation of Customs Broker License - forfeiture of security deposit - levy of penalty - export of prohibited goods (red sanders logs), declaring it as VAT BLUE 20 - appellant’s submission was that the Shipping Bill was not filed by it or with its knowledge or consent - HELD THAT:- It is undisputed that the appellant had not filed the Shipping Bill at all and the exporter in whose name the Shipping Bill was filed was not its client. Therefore, if the exporter violated laws and attempted to smuggle out red sanders, by no stretch of imagination can the appellant be faulted. To come to such a conclusion, it must be presumed firstly that the exporter was the appellant’s client (which it was not) and that the appellant was aware that the Shipping Bill was filed (which it was not), that the appellant was aware that the exporter violated the laws (which it was impossible considering that the appellant was not even aware of the Shipping Bill) and ultimately that the appellant had not advised the exporter. Any Facility Notice by the Commissioner is to facilitate the processes and procedure in the Custom House and it does not take the shape of a statutory regulation. Therefore, even if there was a violation of any instructions in such notice, it does not automatically be concluded that the Regulations have been violated. The violation of the Regulation has to be established. At any rate, if the appellant mainly operates in Delhi, it has no reason to keep checking the system for Shipping Bills and Bills of Entry filed in various Custom Houses across the country and also checking what instructions were issued by the respective commissioners. So long as it follows the instructions in the Customs formations where it operates, the appellant cannot be faulted. Further, it is found that if the system is not designed to send an alert to the Customs Broker if a Shipping Bill is filed in its name in the service centre at the Custom House and only sends an alert if it is filed online, it cannot be fathomed how the appellant can be faulted if this loophole in the system was exploited by another person after making a fake Customs card. The impugned order cannot be sustained - Appeal allowed.
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