JUSTICE DILIP GUPTA:

Customs Appeal No. 40724 of 2024 has been filed by Hitin Sachdeva¹the appellant to assail the order dated 11.06.2024 passed by the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai-II²the Commissioner. The order is in respect of the goods imported through Chennai Port, Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai and Kolkata Port and seeks to reject the declared value of the imported goods in the Bills of Entry under rule 12 of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007³the 2007 Valuation Rules and re- determines the same under rule 9 of the said Rules. Accordingly, the demand of duty short paid has been confirmed with interest and penalty upon the appellant under sections 114A and 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962⁴the Customs Act by treating the appellant to be the beneficial owner. The goods imported in the name of M/s. Mega Auto Industries, M/s. Majestic Motors, M/s. Highline Enterprises and M/s. India Enterprises have also been held liable to confiscation under section 111(m) of the Customs Act but as the goods had been cleared, a redemption fine in lieu of confiscation has been imposed upon the appellant under section 125 of the Customs Act.

Customs Appeal No. 40725 of 2024 has been filed by Sandeep Kumar Das to assail the order dated 11.06.2024 to the extent it imposes penalty upon him as a partner of M/s. Highline Enterprises under sections 114AA and 112(b)(ii) of the Customs Act.

Customs Appeal No. 40726 of 2024 has been filed by S.K. Dhawan to assail that portion of the order dated 11.06.2024 passed by the Commissioner that imposes penalty upon him as proprietor of M/s. Dhawan Impex under sections 114AA and 112(b)(ii) of the Customs Act.

Customs Appeal No. 40913 of 2024 has been filed by Harvinder Sachdeva to assail that portion of the order dated 11.06.2024 passed by the Commissioner that imposes penalty upon him as Director of M/s. Sino Diesel Automotive Co. Ltd. under sections 114AA and 112(b)(ii) of the Customs Act.

Customs Appeal No. 40914 of 2024 has been filed by Madhav Sachdeva to assail that portion of the order dated 11.06.2024 passed by the Commissioner that imposes penalty upon him as partner of M/s Mega Auto Industries and M/s. India Enterprises under sections 114AA and 112(b)(ii) of the Customs Act.

The case of the appellant is that when the appellant arrived at Terminal T-3 of IGI Airport on 03.09.2021 at around 09:45 PM with Bipin Jha, partner in M/s. Bird Automotive, the officers of the Department of Revenue Intelligence⁵DRI took the appellant and Bipin Jha to their office and took possession of their phones and laptop and locked both of them in separate enclosures. Thereafter, the DRI officers tortured the appellant, stripped him, physically beat him with a stick and metal rod and deprived him of food and water. The appellant further contends that the officers stopped beating him only when they obtained his signature on a statement already prepared, typed and stored in the computers of the department and also forced him to sign some documents without permitting him to read the same. The appellant was thereafter arrested on 04.09.2021 at 5:15 PM and produced before the duty magistrate at his residence on 10:35 PM and, thereafter, lodged in jail. The appellant also contends that when he arrived at the jail, the doctor on duty examined him and finding marks of beating, recorded in his report „multiple bruises over shoulder, thigh, abdomen, hands due to physical assault‟. Next morning when the appellant complained of immense pain, nausea and fever, the jail doctor recommended for examination at a government hospital. The appellant was then taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on 06.09.2021 and the doctors, after thorough examination, found several bruises over right thigh right knee, left buttock, multiple bruises on right arm, bruises over left shoulder and bruises over left flank which evidenced physical assault and this was recorded in the medical examination rep