R A INTERNATIONAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Court :

(2.) On or about 24th May, 1999 the respondent No. 3 raided an office of the petitioners, one file was seized, investigation started and summons under Section 108 of the Customs Act were issued. No action was taken pursuant to the above investigation by issuing a show cause notice under Section 124(a) of the Customs Act. Within a maximum period of one year as no action was taken there could not and cannot be any basis for the aforesaid raid.

(3.) The present show cause notice dated 20th February, 2003 was received by the petitioners from the respondent No. 2 purportedly under Sections 9(4), 16 and 11 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, on the wrong premises that it has been reported by the respondent No. 3 that the export item i.e. the TDM and DCM were actually procured from one M/s. Elin Electronics Ltd. Gaziabad in the name of Prakash Electronics Ltd. Kolkata and subsequently transferred the same as finished goods to M/s. G.R. Magnets Ltd. and that M/s. G.R. Magnet Ltd. misrepresented that the said goods were actually had their factory at Adityapur, Jamshedpur. Thereafter the same was removed for export on behalf of the licensee/petitioner to Dubai, London at a highly inflated price for claiming excessively ineligible amount of DEPB, though it is alleged M/s. G.R. Magnet had no capacity to manufacture the same. On receipt of the said show cause notice the first petitioner through their learned Counsels asked for supply of the documentary evidence on which reliance was placed by the department. On inspection of the documents the petitioner came to know that although the respondent No. 3 could not issue any show cause notice upon the petitioner under the Customs Act, 1962 , the respondent No. 3 illegally and maliciously wrote a letter dated 13th November, 2002 to the respondent No. 2 to look into the matter and take urgent and appropriate action including cancellation of DEPB license ab initio . In view of the fact that most of the illegitimate duty products have already been utilized by M/s. Angel Marketing and Finance Pvt. Ltd. The said show cause notice was dealt with by the petitioner by giving appropriate reply. Pending hearing of the said show cause notice an order was passed by the respondent No. 2 (Zonal Joint Director General of Foreign Trade) on 18th of August, 2003 whereby and whereunder the grant of Exim Benefit to the petitioner shall stand stopped forthwith till finalization of the action.