ORDER

1. These appeals are directed against the decision rendered by the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi (for short "CEGAT"). The facts lie in a narrow compass. The respondents before us imported 100% Polyester Lining Material of the width of 44 inches. The shipments arrived on 4-11-1983 and 2-12-1983. The Bills of Lading were dated 25-3-1983 (Raya Glory), 23-4-1983 (Raya Fortune) and 20-4-1983 (Portoroz). The total quantity was 3,01,393 yards and the value was declared to be Rs. 10,86,375. Twenty-nine Bills of Entry were filed. The Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch of Bombay Customs House suspected that these 29 Bills of Entry were fabricated insofar as the description of the goods, invoice values and the date of shipments were concerned. The Bills of Entry were, therefore, seized and taken over for investigation. During the course of investigation the office premises of the respondents firms at Bombay were searched and certain documents were recovered. Ten consignments out of 29 were also examined by the Customs officials in February, May, October and November of 1984.

2. These investigations, according to the Department, revealed that the date shown in the Bills of Lading presented along with Bills of Entry were incorrect insofar as the actual shipment of the goods on board the vessels at Japan were concerned. The correct dates were stated to be 25-10-1983 (Raya Glory), 19-11-1983 (Raya Fortune) and 20-10-1983 (Portoroz) and it was further found that the licences under which the goods were cleared had actually expired and that the incorrect dates shown on the Bills of Lading were with a view to enable import under expired licences. So far as the value of the imported goods are concerned, inquiries were made in Japan and on scrutiny of the documents secured by the officer who personally visited Japan it was found that the true value in US dollars of the consignment shipped were : Raya Glory : $ 80.65 CIF, Raya Fortune : $ 89.78 CIE, and Portoroz : $ 100.25 CIF. The FOB values in Japanese yen were also given in these documents. On receipt of the above valuation the average value of the different types of consignments shipped was worked out as : Raya Glory : $ 1.053 per yard, Raya Fortune : $ 0.818 per yard and Portoroz : $ 0.869 per yard whereas the invoice value of these goods declared by the respondents was $ 0.35 CIF which, according to the Department, was clearly undervalued.

3. On the basis of this material, a supplementary show-cause notice was issued on 16-5-1984 covering the Bills of Entry included in the original show-cause notice of 12-4-1984. The charge levelled was twofold, namely, (1) that the imported material was not lining material but polyester fabric covered under Item 25 of Appendix 4 of the ITC Policy April-March 1982-83; (2) that the Bills of Lading were antedated and the declaration as to value was false to the extent of Rs. 7,08,744 resulting in loss of duty of Rs. 9,56,804.40 paise. This was on the basis that the net price should have been 87.5 cents as against the declared value of 35 cents. The respondents contested these allegations made in the show-cause notices issued in respect of the goods in question. The Collector of Customs held that the evidence did establish that there was manipulation of the date of shipment on the Bills of Lading but concluded that the importers were not personally responsible for the same. He further held that the imported material was not lining material but was man-made fabrics which were banned for import and accordingly held that the licences produced were invalid for the imported consignments. He also found that the declared price was undervalued and that the price as found in the export declaration was acceptable as assessable value under Section 14(1)(a) of the Customs Act, 1962 which was far higher than the value declared by the respondents in the Bills of Entry. On these findings he held the charges established and or