The Chennai Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), imposed penalty of Rs 10 lakhs for smuggling gold and observed that a person who causes to make, sign or use any declaration or document liable under Section 114AA of Customs Act, 1962.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai Unit, on receipt of specific intelligence that gold jewellery and other commercial goods are being smuggled from Singapore through Courier parcels booked through M/s UPS Jet Air Express Pvt Ltd and arriving by flight, arranged for surveillance of the clearance of the courier parcels.
On verification of the address of the consignee, it revealed that no person is available by the such name in the said address. The Border Clearance Officer, Naveen Kumar, of M/s.UPS Jet Air Express Pvt. Ltd. was summoned and his statement was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962. He stated that he has a friend Kannan, who cleared the consignments.
Based on the above investigations, present show cause notice was issued under Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962 against the appellant. After due process of law, the original authority imposed a penalty of Rs.10 lakhs on I.C. Kannan under Section 112 (a) of the Customs Act, 1962 and a separate penalty of Rs.25 lakhs under Section 114AA of Customs Act, 1962.
The Counsel for the appellant argued that Kannan had never gone to the courier terminal at the airport and had nothing to do with the activities at the terminal. Such activities were handled only by Naveen Kumar. It is submitted that penalty under Section 114AA of the Customs Act cannot sustain for the reason that Kannan had not created any fraudulent documents or presented any documents for import of the goods. Ld. Counsel prayed that the penalties imposed may be set aside.
A Two-Member Bench comprising Vasa Seshagiri Rao, Technical Member and CS Sulekha Beevi, Judicial Member observed that “On investigations, it was revealed that there is no such person in the given address. These are nothing but paper transactions. The imports were made only for the benefit of appellants and their allies. A person who causes to be made, signed or used any declaration or document is also liable under Section 114AA of Customs Act.”
The Bench concluded that both appellants are guilty and liable for penalty liable under Section 114AA. On appreciation of facts, we find that penalty of Rs.25 lakhs under Section 114AA is on the higher side and requires to be reduced. The penalty imposed under this section is reduced to Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten lakhs only) on each of the appellants.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
