Back
2009 Supreme(SC) 993
Supreme Court of India
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.B. SINHA & THE HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA
M/s. Radhey Shyam Ratanlal & Another
Versus
Commnr. of Customs (Adjudication), Mumbai
Civil Appeal No. 2700 of 2006
Decided On : 06-05-2009
IMPORTANT POINT
If necessary documents are not produced supporting claimed transaction value of goods, contemporaneous documents of other parties and organisations may be used for determining correct transaction value.
Headnote:Customs Act, 1962 – Section 14(1)(a) r/w Rule 4, 5 10A, Customs Valuation Rules, 1988 – Transaction value – Price actually paid or payable when sold for export to India – Provisions of sub-Section (1) of Section 14 would prevail when the transaction value in terms of Rule 4 does not reflect the price at which such or like goods are ordinarily sold or offered for sale for delivery at the time and place of importation – Transaction value of identical goods and sale at the same commercial level and substantially of the same quantity would be used to determine the value of the imported goods – Transaction value claimed by appellant not supported by original contract or invoices – Respondent department rightly relying upon contemporaneous documents – Moreover, appellants relying upon a certificate from a trader who deals in sports goods and not cloves – No infirmity in decisions of authorities below. (Para 20, 22, 23, 24)
Facts of the case:
The entire proceeding arises out of a contract of importation of cloves of the bulk quantity of 300 MTs at US Dollars 2600 PMT CIF, Mumbai.
The aforesaid contract for the above-mentioned quantity of cloves was registered with the Customs Department by the appellants in the course of which three bills of entry were filed by appellants for clearance of part shipment declaring the contract price as the invoice price. Again, for further imports seven more bills of entry were filed by the appellants in terms of the direction of the respondent. The appellants paid the price at the enhanced price.
The custom authorities alleged undervaluation.
An order was passed by the Commissioner of Customs (Adjudication) holding that the value for the purpose of assessment of the cloves imported under four Bills of Entry should be US Dollars 5500 PMT and for the balance six Bills of Entry, the value for the assessment of the cloves imported by the Appellants should be @US$ 5600 PMT (CIF).
The Appellant Company preferred an Appeal in the Tribunal which was dismissed.
Finding of the Court:
There is no infirmity in the impugned orders.
Result:
Appeal dismissed with cost.
Judgment :
Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, J.
1. The present Civil Appeal is filed by the appellant under Section 130E of the Customs Act, 1962. The appeal is directed against the impugned judgment and order dated 8.3.2006 passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi (hereinafter `the Tribunal whereby and whereunder the adjudication order dated
31.12.2003 passed by the Commissioner of Customs (Adjudication), Mumbai was upheld and whereby the Tribunal dismissed both the appeals preferred by the appellants holding that the appellant was fully aware and was made known about the materials placed before the authority and he had full opportunity to deal with the documents submitted by the witness. The Tribunal upheld and confirmed the reasoning and the conclusions of the Commissioner for passing the order dated 31.12.2003. By the aforesaid order passed by the Tribunal, a fine of Rs. 5 lacs in lieu of confiscation of the goods and penalty of Rs. 10 lacs was imposed on the appellant firm, and also a penalty of Rs. 5 lacs imposed on Ratanlal under the provision of Section 112(a) of the Customs Act imposed by the Commissioner of Customs (Adjudication) was upheld.
2.2. The entire proceeding arises out of a contract of importation of cloves of the bulk quantity of 300 MTs at US Dollars 2600 PMT CIF, Mumbai. It was alleged that the appellants herein entered into a contract with M/s. Ketan Trading Company, Singapore on 23.11.2000 for import of cloves. The goods were described as `cloves-Zanzibar/Indonesia meaning thereby cloves of Zanzibar/Indonesian origin of the bulk quantity of 300 MTs at US Dollars 2600 PMT CIF Mumbai.
3.3. The aforesaid contract dated 23.11.2000 for the above-mentioned quantity of cloves was registered with the Customs Department by the appellants in the course of which three bills of entry were filed by appellants for clearance of part shipment declaring the contract price as the invoice price. Again, for further imports seven more bills of entry were filed by the appellants in terms of the direction of the respondent. The appellants paid the price at the enhanced price.
4.4. The Customs House initiated an investigation into the import of cloves included in all ten bills of entry. The Customs Department alleged that during the investigation, it was revealed that the aforesaid goods were invoiced by M/s. Ketan Trading Co., Singapore at Unit Price of US Dollars 2600 PMT CIF, Mumbai although the prevailing international price of cloves during the relevant period (in the month of January-February, 2001) was around US Dollars 5500 which reached to US Dollars 6500 PMT by the end of February and beginning of March, 2001 and that the cloves were not traded at a price less than US Dollars 4200 PMT during the year 2000 except in the beginning of January, 2000.
5.5. It was also alleged that in order to avoid deterioration of goods, the appellants as directed by the Department, deposited the amount towards enhanced price. The Bill of Entry was provisionally assessed and out of charge order under Section 47 of the Act was passed. After that the goods were stored in a warehouse at Vashi in its general section.
6.6. It was further alleged that the imports made by M/s. Spices Trading Corporation of India established that cloves of Indonesian and Comoros origin were shipped from Singapore at the rate of US Dollars 5500 PMT (CIF) to Nhava Bills of Entry dated 10.5.2001 and 8.5.2001. The case of the Customs is also that Bulletin of Spices Market published by the trade information services of Spices Board of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India indicated that the prices of cloves were ranging from US Dollars 4490 to US Dollars 6010 between 17.11.2000 to 23.2.2001.
7.7. Further evidence was also collected indicating that as per the Public Ledger, an international publication of repute, the CIF European Port prices of cloves were ranging from US Dollars 4400 to US Dollars 6300 between 6.11.2000 an
