ANIL KUMAR ANAND Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (PREVENTIVE)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant in CA No. 3140/2018, M/s. Diyas Mantra Lighting Private Limited, as well as its Directors, are aggrieved by the impugned order dated 30.3.2017 of the Principal Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), New Delhi, as well as the order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (for short 'CESTAT') dated 6.11.2017, dismissing the appeal and sustaining the order of the Original Authority, revaluing the import consignments of the appellant, numbering twenty one, for the period from December, 2012 to January, 2015.

(2.) The appellant is stated to be a regular importer of electric decorative lightings, and in the process of such imports, filed a bill of entry on 21.1.2015 at the ICD, Tughlakabad, New Delhi, for clearance of electric decorative lightings. These import consignments were of brand names 'Diyas' and 'mAntra', and the enquiry proceeded to ascertain whether the goods had been correctly valued for the purposes of customs duty. On completion of the enquiry, proceedings were initiated for revaluing the current import consignment, as well as past consignments within the aforesaid window, apart from the proposal for confiscation of goods and imposition of penalties under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as the 'said Act'). A show cause notice was issued under Section 28 of the said Act, providing for recovery of duties not levied or short-levied or erroneously refunded, for any reason other than collusion or any wilful mis-statement or suppression of facts. In substance, there were really two grounds for the show cause notice:

(3.) The aforesaid proceedings, as noticed, resulted in an adverse order against the appellant by the authorities, resulting in the imposition of differential duty of about Rs. 9.53 lakhs for the consignment in question, and around Rs. 1.23 crores for the past consignments. The goods were held liable for confiscation, and were ordered to be released on payment of redemption fine, with the levy of Rs. 13 lakhs penalty imposed on the Directors of the appellant (appellants in CA No. 3138/2018 and CA No. 3139/2018). A perusal of the order shows that the valuation of the goods had been made under Rule 7 and Rule 9 of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as the 'said Rules'). It is this very method of valuation which is sought to be assailed by the appellants on a reasoning that the scheme of the Rules has not been correctly understood and implemented by the competent authority. In order to appreciate the contention of the appellants in the context of the Rules, we proceed to discuss the scheme of the Rules.