Violation of Provisions of CBLR Not Amount to Revocation of License will not lead to Imposition of Penalty u/r 18 of CBLR: CESTAT quashes Penalty [Read Order]

The Hyderabad bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) quashed the penalty imposed for violation of provisions of Customs Broker License Regulations,2018 on grounds of non-revocation of license. 

Lotus Integrated Logistics Pvt Ltd, the appellant assessee appealed against the order passed by the Commissioner of Customs for imposing penalties for violations of the provisions of customs broker license regulations. 

Srinivas Chaturvedula, the counsel for the assessee contended that the impugned order had not been issued by observing due process of law and no relevant documents had been supplied to them and the department was led by the version of CBI which was not accepted yet by any court of law. 

Further submitted that the inquiry conducted by the inquiry officer was in gross violation of the principles of natural justice and the penalty imposed was not as per the law and liable to be deleted. 

P. Amresh, the counsel for the revenue relied on the decisions made by the lower authorities and contended that the penalty imposed by the Commissioner of Customs was as per the law and liable to be sustained. 

The bench observed that if the violations are not grave enough to warrant revocation of license, they do not warrant maximum penalty under rule 18 of the Customs Broker License Regulations Rules. 

A single-member bench comprising Anjani Kumar (Technical) quashed the penalty imposed by the Commissioner while allowing the appeal filed by the assessee. 

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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