CUSTOMS, EXCISE & SERVICE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL NEW DELHI PRINCIPAL BENCH- COURT NO. I CUSTOMS APPEAL No. 58381 of 2013 (Arising out of Order-in-Original No. 09/2013 dated 31.03.2013 passed by the Commissioner of Customs, ICD, Tughlakabad, New Delhi)

Kamal Sehgal .…Appellan C-117, 2^nd Floor, Moti Nagar, New Delhi- 110015 Versus Commissioner of Customs .…Respondent ICD, Tughalkabad NEW DELHI APPEARANCE Shri B.K. Singh and Ms. Vandana Singh, advocates for the appellant Shri Mukesh Kumar Shukla, authorised representative of the department CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DILIP GUPTA, PRESIDENT HON’BLE MR. P. V. SUBBA RAO, MEMBER (TECHNICAL)

Date of Hearing : 06.01. 2026 Date of Decision : 12.02.2026 FINAL ORDER NO. 50260/2026 JUSTICE DILIP GUPTA :

This appeal has been filed by Kamal Sehgal¹ to assail that portion of the order dated 31.03.2013 passed by the Commissioner ICD, TKD, New Delhi² that imposes a penalty of Rs. 10 crores on the appellant under section 112(a)(i) of the Customs Act, 1962³ and a penalty of Rs. 10 lakhs under section 112(a)(ii) of the Customs Act.

2. The first penalty of Rs. 10 crores has been imposed upon the appellant for acts of omission and commission which rendered the goods seized from the 68 containers liable for absolute confiscation as they were prohibited goods.

1. the appellant

2. the Commissioner

3. the Customs Act

3. The second penalty under section 112(a)(ii) under Customs Act has been levied upon the appellant in respect of the goods seized from three containers which were liable for confiscation as the appellant in collusion with Lokesh Garg and other persons willfully and intentionally involved himself in smuggling activities and attempted to import huge quantity to mis-declare/ undeclare/ concealed goods in the names of bogus/non-existing firms with an intention to evade payment of appropriate duty.

4. It would be useful to first examine the relevant portion of the show cause notice that relates to the allegations made against the appellant and such paragraph numbers 73, 74 and 75 of the show cause notice are reproduced below:

“Role of Shri Kamal Sehgal:

73. From the statement of Shri Lokesh Garg recorded under Section 108 of Customs Act, 1962 dated 09.03.2010, it appears that he knew Shri Lokesh Garg since 2006; that he used M/s Kamal Sehgal, M/s Jenita Cargo, M/s Continental Cargo and M/s Cargo Placement CHAs for the import in bogus firms and that the IEC of one M/s Krishna Enterprises has been provided to him by Shri Kamal, Sehgal, CHA which was also bogus though the same was not used till date. Further from the statement of Shri Lokesh Garg it appears that the plan to smuggle goods of Chinese origin was discussed and made out at the time of visit of Shri Kamal Sehgal, CHA and Shri Tejpal Singh employee of Sh. Kamal Sehgal and one person named Manish in the month of September or October, 2009 when the strategy was also discussed. Shri Kamal Sehgal helped out in arranging the IECs of bogus firms as he was in the business of CHA and was well aware of the formalities and procedures of examination and clearance of imported goods minutely. It also appears that since Shri Kamal Sehgal was aware about the facts of smuggling of foreign origin concealed in the rear portion of container and keeping himself away, he willfully not filed the Bill of Entry but arranged to get the Bill of Entry filed through other person i.e. Shri Krishan Kumar, G Card holder of M/s Cargo Placement Agency through Shri N.K. Singh. This fact is corroborated with statement of Shri Lokesh Garg where he stated that "that he provided copies of these two documents to one Shri N.K. Singh at ICD, TKD to hand it over to G Card holder of M/s Cargo Placement & Shipping Agencies, CHA, as per arrangement made before as Shri N.K. Singh was a G Cardholder of M/s Continental Cargo and was known to him since earlier; that he was getting clearance made through Continental Cargo at ICD, TKD; that the role of Shri N.K. Singh was to hand over the paper (i