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TMI Blog2009 (9) TMI 512X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing aside the order of confiscation of goods and imposition of penalty even though the said decision was distinguishable on facts inasmuch as in the instant case the Bills of Entry were filed and the same were assessed and debit of duty, quantity and CIF Value has already been logged in Import Export Pass Book? (2) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in law in holding that at the time of seizure, since the goods were not cleared from docks, no exemption was granted and therefore the contravention of any of the conditions of Notification No. 117/88-Cus., cannot be alleged and hence the goods were not liable for confiscation under Section 111(o) of the Customs Act, 1962? 2. It is not necessa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8) E.L.T. 163 (S.C.), observed that there was no dispute that importation of the goods was not illegal, having been made under a passbook which at the relevant time was a kind of licence. Learned Tribunal then noted that clause (o) of Section 111 of the Act makes liable for confiscation, goods exempted from duty or any prohibition in respect of which condition is not observed. Where the goods have not been exempted from duty or any prohibition subject to any condition, the provisions of clause (o) of Section 111 of the Customs Act will not apply. It further observed that exemption of duty which had been claimed in the bill of entry had not yet been granted as such it was premature to invoke clause (o) of Section 111 of the Act. In the light ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be pleaded in this case since on the date of the import the said goods were covered by a valid import licence. The subsequent cancellation of licence is of no relevance nor does it retrospectively render the import illegal. (East India Commercial Co. Ltd. v. The Collector of Customs, Calcutta, [1963] 3 S.C.R. 338 at 372) clause (o) contemplates confiscation of goods which are exempted from duty subject to a condition, which condition is not observed by the importer. Occasion for taking action under this clause arises only when the condition is not observed within the period prescribed, if any, or where the period is not so prescribed, within a reasonable period. It, therefore, cannot be said that the said goods were liable to be confiscated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mpted from duty subject to a condition which is not observed by the importer within the time prescribed. The occasion for the action under this clause arises only when the condition is not observed within the period prescribed. In the instant case, the respondents had not cleared the goods. The Bill of Entry was filed by some other person. Therefore, the question of breach of condition by the respondents would not arise. What Section 111(o) of the Act reiterates is "the condition is not observed". The stage for observing the condition had not yet arisen as the goods themselves had not been cleared by the respondents. 8. In our opinion, therefore, the learned Tribunal was right in placing reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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