Order may be challenged under Article 226 of the constitution.

The Order of the Court is as follows :-

The petitioner is the Commissioner of Customs (Air), Customs House, Chennai. He has filed this writ petition, challenging the Admission Order No. 3 of 2001 (Cus.), dated 15-2-2001 of the first respondent. By the said order, the application filed under Section 127B of the Customs Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") by Respondents 2 to 4 was entertained by the first respondent and the proceedings were allowed to be proceeded with under Section 127C(1) of the Act. The writ petition has been filed on the ground that the Customs and Central Excise Settlement Commission/first respondent has no jurisdiction to entertain the application under Section 127B of the Act.

2.The brief facts, leading to the filing of the writ petition are as follows :-

One M/s. Goutham Enterprises, 32-A Strotten Muthiah Mudali St., Chennai submitted a letter to the petitioner herein stating that they have received cargo arrival-cum-invoice notice from M/s. Emery World Wide, asking them to take delivery of 300 numbers of Acer CD ROM Drives arrived under HAWB No. 5500717618, dated 17-7-2000. In the said letter, they had also stated that they had not placed any such order for import purposes and they had further stated that they had not made any import so far. On a scrutiny of Bill of Entry, it was noticed that the Bill of Entry No. 235337, dated 19-7-2000 was filed in the name of M/s. Goutham Enterprises for clearance of 300 numbers of Acer CD ROM Drive, 50 X, by CHA, M/s. Sanjay Forwarders Pvt. Ltd. The Bill was assessed accepting the declaration made by the importer and was pending for payment of duty. On 20-7-2000, one Shri P. R. Sivaramakrishnan, Regional Manager (South India) of M/s. Emery World Wide (1) Pvt. Ltd., appeared before the department in person and in his voluntary statement, has stated that one Shri S. Janakiraman, the fourth respondent herein who normally comes for collecting the delivery order of M/s. Moon Star Automation Pvt. Ltd., the third respondent herein, had collected the delivery order pertaining to M/s. Goutham Enterprises stating that he will submit the authorisation letter to the Department. He also submitted that two persons representing M/s. Goutham Enterprises have approached their office along with the copy of the cargo arrival notice sent to them and have stated that the consignment did not belong to them. Therefore, they have taken back the delivery order given to Shri S. Janakiraman and have submitted the same to the Department.

3.In the meanwhile, intelligence department gathered information to the effect that the consignment consisted of Cellular Mobile Phones and efforts were made to locate the CHA, M/s. Sanjay Forwarders P. Ltd., and Shri S. Janakiraman to identify the actual importer. Even though summonses were issued to Shri S. Janakiraman to appear before the Department on 24-7-2000, he did not appear. The officers also visited the premises of the CHA and M/s. Sanjay Forwarders P. Ltd., and found locked. On 24-7-2000, the second respondent, the Managing Director of M/s. Moon Star Automation P. Ltd., appeared before the department and claimed the goods imported in the name of M/s. Goutham Enterprises and the goods were examined in his presence and two independent witnesses and the following items were found in the consignment.

S. No. Description Model Qty. CIF value in Rs. Market value in Rs.

1. Acer 50 X Max CD ROM drive 650 P-072 CD-650 220 3, 45, 730/- 4, 15, 000/-

2. Acer 50 X Max CD ROM Drive Repaired & Re- conditioned 26 40, 859/- 46, 000/-

3. Cellular Mobile Phones with charger & Battery Pack Siemens C 25 346 12, 11, 000/- 18, 33, 800/-

4. Cellular Mobile Phones with Charger & Battery pack Siemens C35 127 10, 16, 000/- 11, 68, 400/-'

5. -do- Samsung SGH 2100 100 7, 00, 000/- 10, 00, 000/-

6. -do- Panasonic GD 90 95 7, 12, 500/- 8, 74, 000/-

7. -do- Alcatel one touch 54 1, 35, 000/- 2, 26, 800/-

8. -do- Ericson T28 14 1, 59, 600/- 1, 79, 200/-

9. Ear Ph