CESTAT - Transfer of Members - The Inside Story

EXCISE LAW TIMES 11th July 2011 129

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CESTAT — Transfer of Members — The Inside Story

The Hon’ble President of the CESTAT, Mr. Justice R.M.S. Khan-deparkar, by an order issued on 1st July 2011, has transferred Shri M. Veeraiyan, Member (Technical) from New Delhi to Bangalore Bench of the CESTAT. Shri B.S.V. Murthy presently Member (Technical) at Ahmedabad has also been transferred to CESTAT, Mumbai. These transfers are effective from 11th July 2011.

The transfer of Shri B.S.V. Murthy to CESTAT, Mumbai is sur-prising since he was to be transferred to Bangalore as per the Min-istry of Finance Note dated 21st Dec., 2010 (File No. A12026/2/2009/AD-IC) put up by the Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Fi-nance (Department of Revenue) to the Revenue Secretary who in turn had put it up to the Hon’ble Finance Minister and it was approved by FM on 23rd Dec., 2010. This note was prepared in consultation with the Hon’ble President CESTAT, as is apparent from its following ex-tracts, -

“…There is a request from Shri B.S.V. Murthy presently Member (Technical) for transfer to Bangalore. He has almost completed 3 years at Ahmedabad. Hence President CESTAT intends to trans-fer Shri B.S.V. Murthy from Ahmedabad to Bangalore straightway (sic). Consequent vacancy at Ahmedabad may be filed by posting Shri A.K. Prasad...”

In the Note dated 21-12-2010 of the Finance Ministry, the high pen-dency of cases at CESTAT Bangalore and proposed leave by Shri P. Karthikeyan, Hon’ble Member (T) Bangalore, prior to his retirement, were also cited as the reasons for the decision of the President CES-TAT to straightaway transfer Shri B.S.V. Murthy to Bangalore.

Although no post of Technical Member was vacant at Ahmed-abad, yet in view of the decision of the President CESTAT to transfer Mr. B.S.V. Murthy to Bangalore, the Ministry of Finance appointed a new Technical Member at Ahmedabad in Jan. 2011 and the new Mem-ber ultimately joined at Ahmedabad in March 2011. In spite of this,


A61 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 269

Shri Murthy was improperly and illegally retained at Ahmedabad even though there was no post of Technical Member left at Ahmedabad af-ter the joining of the new Member. Thereafter, on 3rd May 2011, Shri P. Karthikeyan also retired from Bangalore Bench but Shri B.S.V. Murthy was still not transferred to Bangalore leaving the post of Tech-nical Member at Bangalore vacant for months together and on the other hand a Member of the Tribunal was kept at Ahmedabad where there is no regular post for him. Such administrative arbitrariness may erode the independence of the Members of the Tribunal and sometimes even exposes them to exploitation.

In June 2011 the famous case of Bharti Airtel involving Rs. 440 crores and booked by DRI was to be heard at CESTAT Bangalore by the Bench to be presided over by the Hon’ble President of CESTAT himself. It is reliably learnt that in mid June 2011, Shri B.S.V. Murthy who was on tour from Ahmedabad to Bangalore, sought exemption from Hon’ble President CESTAT from hearing the said case because of his earlier posting in the DRI.

The most curious aspect of this case is, as to how it was to be heard at CESTAT Bangalore from 21-6-2011 to 24-6-2011, by a Bench also comprising of Mr. B.S.V. Murthy, Hon’ble Member (T), while ini-tially this case was heard for two continuous days on 5-1-2011 and 6-1-2011 at Bangalore by another Bench comprising of Mr. Justice R.M.S. Khandeparkar, Hon’ble President and Shri Rakesh Kumar, Hon’ble Technical Member (both on tour from New Delhi to Banga-lore), and the said Bench posted the matter for conclusion of the argu-ments and passed the following order on 6-1-2011 :-

“Heard the learned Counsel for the appellants yesterday and to-day. Arguments have remained unconcluded on behalf of the appellants. Matters adjourned for further hearing to 01st, 02nd, 03rd and 04th of February, 2011 with a clear intimation that matters would not be adjourned any further under any cir-cumstances.” [Emphasis supplied]

The terms of the above order show that the case was treated as part-heard. This is further collaborated by the fact that the Registry also treated it as part-heard as this case was not listed for hearing on 1-2-2011, 2-2-2011, 3-2-2011 and 4-2-2011, since the Bench of Mr. Justice R.M.S. Khandeparkar, Hon’ble President and Shri Rakesh Ku-mar, Hon’ble Technical Member was not available on these dates at Bangalore. Had this case of Bharti Airtel been not treated as part-heard, it should have been listed for hearing on the above dates be-fore the regular Division Bench of Shri M.V. Ravindran, Hon’ble Mem-ber (J) and Shri P. Karthikeyan, Hon’ble Member (T), which was func-tional on these dates at Bangalore. As per our information this matter has not so far been released by the Bench of Hon’ble President and Shri Rakesh Kumar, Member (T), therefore placing it for hearing be-fore any other Bench is improper and illegal.

It is a great coincidence that when this case was heard on 5th & 6th Jan 2011 at Bangalore, Mr. P. Karthikeyan, the regular Techni-


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cal Member of Bangalore Bench was sent on tour to Kolkata and when this matter was to be heard again at Bangalore on 21st to 24th June 2011, this time, Shri Rakesh Kumar, Technical Member of the part-heard Bench was also sent on tour to Kolkata. Earlier in March 2011, there had been a difference of opinion between the Hon’ble President and Shri Rakesh Kumar, Member (Tech.) in a famous Gutka case at New Delhi. This difference of opinion is being heard at New Delhi by Shri M.V. Ravindran, Hon’ble Member (J) of Bangalore Bench while on tour to Delhi. It is learnt that Excise Department has moved for getting the services of a Senior Law Officer for this sensitive case but whether the Department will get time from the Tribunal for arranging such an effective representation, as clearance for such appointments takes time because of red tapism in the Government of India.

Too may touring Members, encroaching upon the jurisdiction of the Regular Benches is not a prudent policy and is seriously jeopar-dizing the stability and performance of the CESTAT which now has all time high pendency of more than 63000 appeals and 12000 stay appli-cations.

The Transfer Order issued on 1-7-2011 by the President of CE-STAT, is not in line with the norms of the Transfer Policy and is also against the decision taken in consultation with Finance Ministry and Practice of the CESTAT. Thus it needs to be reviewed by Government of India and the decisions taken in consultation with the Ministry of Finance need to be implemented to maintain the independence of the Members of the Tribunal.

It is learnt that on the Judicial Members side, Shri P.G. Chacko is likely to be transferred from Mumbai to Bangalore; Ms. Archana Wadhwa from Ahmedabad to New Delhi; Shri M.V. Ravindran from Bangalore to Mumbai and Shri D.N. Panda from New Delhi to Ahmedabad.

The wholesale transfers which are learnt to be now on cards by the outgoing Hon‘ble President, who is to retire in just a few weeks, raises question of prudence as to why the outgo-ing President on last days of his tenure is likely to effect such transfers when most of the Members have not even completed five years tenure at present station as notified in the CESTAT Transfer Policy. It is always better if such an exercise is left to be undertaken by the incoming President so that he may place his team according to his plans, assessment and requirements. The transfer of Members at this stage by the retiring President would act as a fetter on the prerogative of the incoming Presi-dent and this may not be in public interest. — E.L.T. Bureau

Customs asked to issue pending licences to agents in Gujarat

As many as 26 Custom House agents in Gujarat still have no li-cences, Customs officers have said. These include those who had re-



fused to appear for the mandatory examination under the new CHALR (Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations), 2004, they said.

There are around 500 licenced Customs House Agents across Gujarat.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had recently asked the Customs Department to issue agents with licences. The CEBC notification said that all “eligible qualified applicants” should be issued licences, and accordingly asked Customs Department to clear the pending licences.

But Customs sources said that besides those who had passed the exams as per the previous CHALR (1984) and had their licences pending due to administrative problems, there were others who re-fused to appear for the new CHALR (2004) exam after CBEC intro-duced new mandatory subjects.

In 2010, after CBEC brought in the new mandatory examina-tion, some agents agreed to appear for the same while others refused. Eight of them moved Gujarat HC which ordered Customs to issue them licences based on their old exam results. But Customs Depart-ment appealed in the Supreme Court maintaining that the agents need to pass exams in the new and vitally important subjects. These include the Patent Act, Central Excise Act, Indian Copyright Act, Pre-vention of Corruption Act, Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act, Foreign Exchange Management Act and laws related to Export Pro-motion schemes, procedures of appeal and revision petition.

Customs Commissioner S.B. Singh said : “A section of the ap-plicants refused to appear for the exams as per the new CHALR and went to Gujarat High Court claiming they should get licenses since they had taken the earlier exam. Almost all who agreed to appear for exams as per CHALR (2004) were given licenses.”

According to the Customs Department, nine licences are pend-ing in Ahmedabad and 17 in Kandla. Officers in Jamnagar said none had opposed the new CHALR, so there is no pendency.

The Director General, Inspection, Customs and Central Excise informed that the CHALR exams will now be conducted every year on September 5.

[Source : http://www.indianexpress.com, dated 1-7-2011]

Bombay HC quashes CBEC circular on Target Plus Scheme

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed the circular issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs which put a condition for claiming benefits under the Target Plus Scheme in the Foreign Trade Policy (2004-09). Essel Mining Industries Ltd., a regis-tered exporter and manufacturer of molybdenum with imported raw materials, challenged the condition. It argued that the May 2007 cir-cular which stated that the input which is imported by an exporter must be one which is required to be used in the product exported. The Revenue Authorities, while rejecting the claim of benefits by the com-

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pany, insisted that there should not only be a ‘broad nexus’ of the goods imported with reference to the product group of the exported goods but that the goods imported must constitute an input in the very products which are exported. The High Court stated that the cir-cular was against the Foreign Trade Policy and set it aside.

[Based on http//www.business-standard.com, dated 27-6-2011]

India implements trade pact with PhilippinesTaking its market opening pact further with the 10-nation

Asean bloc, India on 27-6-2011 announced implementation of its free-trade agreement with Philippines. Under the pact India, will slash im-port duties on thousands of goods imported from Philippines on a re-ciprocal basis.

With the Trade pact becoming operational with Philippines, the agreement signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in 2009 has now become functional with the nine mem-ber countries.

While the pact was signed between India and Asean, New Delhi had to separately notify with each of the south east Asian na-tions.

Besides Philippines, the other countries with which India has operationalised FTAs are Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand and Laos. The pact with the 10th member - Cambodia - is yet to be notified.

A notification bringing the free trade pact with Philippines into effect has been issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

The bilateral trade was USD 1.06 billion in 2009-10.India and Asean trade in goods is expected to touch USD 70

billion by 2012 from the present USD 43.5 billion.The two are also engaged in negotiations to broadbase the FTA

by liberalising the services and investment regime.[Source : http://news.in.msn.com, dated 27-6-2011]

FinMin may remove 5% duty on coal for blast furnace steel makers

To boost India-New Zealand bilateral ties, the Finance Ministry is eager to consider exempting the 5 per cent customs duty on weak coking coal for steel makers using the blast furnace route. It has asked the Steel Ministry if it wanted a “zero duty window”.

Anticipating export losses to India, the New Zealand Govern-ment had suggested extending the exemption to producers using the blast furnace technology. Its officials told Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma that more than 90 per cent of their export of coal to India fell in the category where weak coking coal is imported by steel makers using this technology.

In a letter on June 18, Finance Secretary Sunil Mitra informed



Steel Secretary Pradeep Kumar Misra that his Ministry had received many representations from domestic steel producers seeking duty ex-emption on a certain variety of weak coking coal imported by them. The Ministry agreed to it for all producers except those using the BF system.

[Source : http://www.indianexpress.com, dated 29-6-2011]

Duty evaders at CSIA up three times last yearIt is not just celebrities who seem to be frequently getting

caught at the Mumbai airport for evading duty. Customs records show that the number of passengers booked over the last year has more than tripled at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) as compared to the previous year.

In 2010-11, the Customs nabbed 853 passengers in all cate-gories — the bulk of them (742) were fined for not declaring dutiable goods on arrival. In comparison, in 2009-10, they booked 257 passen-gers and in 2008-09, the number of passengers booked were 385 in all categories.

In the last month, Minissha Lamba and Anushka Sharma were detained at the airport for carrying jewellery worth lakhs of rupees without declaring them. The actors — who were carrying borrowed jewellery for events abroad — claimed they were unaware of the rules. Bipasha Basu was also stopped at the green channel with goods worth Rs. 60,000 and had to cough up a duty of Rs. 12,000.

“Not all celebrities are ignorant or want to evade duty. For in-stance, Deepika Padukone landed in Mumbai from London on 28-6-2011, passed through the red channel. She voluntarily declared du-tiable goods worth 2,000 pounds and paid a duty of Rs. 30,000,” said a Customs official.

“In all, the number of celebrities were not more than three or four. Most of the other cases were those of hardcore smugglers and other passengers who did not declare dutiable goods through the red channel,” the official added.

Better vigilance has resulted in an increase in the airport rev-enue generated by the Customs over the past year, officials said. When passengers are caught evading duty, they end up paying a per-sonal penalty and a redemption fine. They also have to pay 36 per cent duty on the goods.

“Two months ago, Mumbai airport officials were commended by the Central Board of Excise and Customs for increasing the rev-enue,” said a Customs official.

However, the other trend emerging at the airport over the past three years is the decrease in the number of drugs seizures. In 2008-09, there were 15 cases; in 2009-10, 11 cases were reported and in 2010-11, there were four cases. As a result, the seizure made by the Air Intelligence unit in 2008-09 involving drugs and precious stones was worth Rs. 724 crore, in 2009-10 it was Rs. 28 core, in 2010-11 it was around Rs. 16 crore.

“A kg of morphine may be worth Rs. 1 lakh in the domestic

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market, but it costs Rs. 1 crore in the international market. We evalu-ate the value according to the international market. So, even a minor drop in the number of cases skews the total value of goods seized,” the official added.

[Source : http://www.expressindia.com, dated 30-6-2011]

Shortage of Customs officers holds up fliersPassengers, who land in the Anna International Terminal at

Chennai airport, are often stuck in long queues outside the baggage scan kiosks and counters for customs clearance due to severe short-age of customs officials.

The airport has five counters for baggage scans and 14 red channel tables where dutiable goods like gold, silver, perfumes and electronic goods are checked and assessed. The airport has just 86 air customs officers including Assistant Commissioners, Superintendents and Inspector-rank officers against the sanctioned strength of 113. Every day, officials are divided into four batches comprising one assis-tant Commissioner, four Superintendents and 10-12 air Customs offi-cers of Inspector rank and posted for duty. The shortage forces offi-cers to stretch work to 12 hours almost everyday. If officials troop in late, passengers who have traveled long distances are often forced to wait for long after midnight.

“We need at least two officers for each of the red channel ta-bles. But the crowd waiting to be cleared starts building up because some counters remain unmanned even during peak hours,” said an airport official. Airline operators Committee (AOC) has also raised the issue with Airports Authority of India (AAI) at several meeting in the last couple of months. “We often find passengers waiting in long queues for customs clearance. Airlines are also facing delays. We need more customs men to clear passengers fast,” said an airline offi-cial.

Sources said that Air Customs have requested the Department of Central Excise and Customs to enhance the sanctioned strength of customs officers at the airport. However, sources said increasing the sanctioned strength alone will not help. The Customs Department should ensure that all officers who re posted at the airport join duty. Eight officers from Vizag and 10 from other Customs Commissioner-ates have not joined Chennai air customs though they were trans-ferred long ago. “It’s tiring to wait in queues after a long flight. If the top official is efficient, the team works well, else they are lax. This problem can be easily avoided. We must add more members to the team,” said Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) National Presi-dent and frequent traveler D. Sudhakara Reddy.

[Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, dated 28-6-2011]

Gutka trade in doldrums?Declining returns in business this year have led to worry lines

on faces of gutka and pan masala traders. It is an apt case of reversal of fortunes, if one checks the trade profits in the past years. The Luc-

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know Zone of the Central Excise and Customs had remained the top Collector of Central Excise duty on pan masala and gutka over the last few years. Sources in the Department said the revenue on these prod-ucts had increased four times in recent years. In fact, the production and sale of gutka and pan masala was at an all-time high in the state, with Kanpur at the top.

What could be ailing the once flourishing trade? Gutka manu-facturers rue it is the closure of units which is hitting the trade hard. Traders claimed that it is the ban on the sale of gutka and pan masala in plastic pouches that has dented gutka trade in Kanpur and Luc-know. The total excise earnings from the trade for 2010-11 have shown a fall of Rs. 74 crore as compared to the last financial year.

“Some units were closed in March and the business was af-fected for about a month which showed in the figures too,” sources said, adding, “We hope to compensate the losses soon.”

Lucknow Zone comprises Three Commissionerates — Kanpur, Allahabad and Lucknow. Though Kanpur has maximum number of gutka and pan masala manufacturing units, many units closed down supposedly due to the ban and also the change in excise policy. Things are no different for Lucknow Commissionerate comprising Lucknow-I, Lucknow-II, Rae Bareli, Aligarh and Farukkhabad. Allahabad has very few units. Surprisingly, excise earnings from gutka showed a rise in Allahabad in 2010-11. In 2009-10, it was Rs. Five crore which rose to Rs. Seven crore in 2010-11.

“Commodity-wise, gutka and pan masala are the biggest rev-enue earners in the Zone,” sources said. During 2010-11, Rs. 712 crore was earned as excise from gutka and pan masala in Lucknow Zone. In 2009-10, the earning was Rs. 786 crore and in 2008-09, it was Rs. 732 crore. The increase was huge compared to Rs. 145 crore in 2006-07.

While earnings from pan masala remain in double-digits — Rs. 13 crore in Kanpur Commissionerate and Rs. 12 crore in Lucknow Commissionerate in 2010-11— it is earnings from gutka which swell the coffers.

Kanpur earned Rs. 390 crore in excise from gutka in 2010-11 while Lucknow earned Rs. 290 crore. The jurisdiction of Kanpur Com-missionerate extends to Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Hamirpur, Ma-hoba, Jhansi, Unnao, Agra, Firozabad, Auraiya, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Orai and Etawah. Kanpur, Orai and Jhansi have maximum gutka and pan masala manufacturing units.

“At least 100 brands of pan masala and gutka are being sold in Kanpur,” sources said.

[Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com, dated 30-6-2011]

DRI says cancel Walia bail, HC asks whyThe Delhi High Court on 29-6-2011 asked the Directorate of

Revenue Intelligence (DR) to explain why should it cancel the bail of Sumit Walia, the alleged kingpin of luxury cars import scam, who is also accused of duty evasion to the tune of Rs. 400 crore. The Court

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posted the matter for further hearing on July 29.[Source : The Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 30-6-2011]

Top Customs officials may face disciplinary ac-tion

Former Commissioner of ICD, one Joint Commissioner, three Assistant Commissioners along with 15 Superintendents and Inspec-tors while their tenure postings at ICD Tughlakabad are likely to face disciplinary action for their omission and commission in a case relat-ing to import of plastic dana.

Sources said the plastic dana was cleared without the report of CRCL for eight containers.

The case is languishing for the last five years and case was re-ferred for closure twice.

[Source : Revenue Transparecy Times, June 2011]

At Amritsar Customs, a slew of botched-up probes

The Punjab Kesri in its edition dated 20th may 2011 has brought out a detailed story about the ill-functioning of the Amritsar Customs. The article quoted the Amritsar customs as a den of corrup-tion and alleged that as many as 73 Customs officers have been found to be involved in cases related to fraudulent claim of drawback and those cases are being probed by the CBI. It further pointed out that out of those 73 officers, the department has taken action against 35 officers - right from Deputy Commissioners to Appraiser. The newspa-per further alleged that as per the CBI sources, in one case the officer was charged for increasing the number of cycle parts exported so that the party can claim excess drawback amount.

In another case related to misuse of DEPB in the year 2006, 18 officers were charged including Deputy Commissioner Pramod Kumar, Assistant Commissioners Anil Kumar Mishra & Virender Prabhakar, Jagdish Kalra and a number of Superintendents and Inspectors.

In a recent case in 2010 relating to obtaining customs pass-word illegally and sanctioning of drawback amount, 34 officers were found to be involved. The case was handed over to the CBI and the agency has filed chargesheet in the Court for criminal conspiracy and corruption. All the involved officers were posted in Ludhiana dry port.

The RTT has information about series of cases of not being properly investigated. In one case of duty drawback, fraud running into crores of rupees was detected in March 2009 at ICD Ludhiana wherein passwords of the officers were being used by private persons engaged at ICDs. Fraud appeared in newspapers and the inquiry was taken up by the CBI for criminal conspiracy of parties and staff. Three parties involved in the fraud were namely M/s. A.S. International, M/s. S.M. International and M/s. Ashtha Trading, all of Ludhiana.

Investigations started on 20-3-09 and SCN involving Rs. 4.17 crore was issued to M/s. A.S. International on 12-5-09. The investiga-



tion was not pursued in case of M/s. S.M. International (drawback amount above Rs. 4 crore) and M/s. Ashtha Trading (drawback amount above Rs. 1 crore). Sources said the then Assistant Commis-sioner of Customs, who belonged to Ludhiana, allegedly struck a deal with party and has blessings of the senior officers of that time of Cus-toms, Amritsar. The case was, therefore, closed on the ground that the case has been referred to CBI.

It is pertinent to mention here that the CBI cannot take action for recovery under Customs Act. The investigation was required to be done by Customs department. CBI has already launched prosecution against 34 officers of the department for criminal breach of trust, con-spiracy and corruption. The case is in the CBI Court at Patiala and challan had been filed.

It is interesting to note that the then Commissioner did not take any action against CHA A.S. Grewal of M/s. A.S. International in the last two years and the file was gathering dust and closed for other two parties referred above.

Grewal was summoned on 6-5-11 by the Anti-smuggling staff of Amritsar Customs Headed by Deputy Commissioner. He was eventu-ally arrested despite stiff resistance from the higher-ups in the Amrit-sar Customs. Sources said that Grewal was produced in the court on 7-5-11.

Grewal has tendered his statement before the Anti-smuggling staff Amritsar during his custody wherein he admitted that he was working in collusion with a Superintendent.

It is also interesting to note that an office-bearer of Chandigarh unit Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers was allegedly involved in this case and now facing the prosecution.

It fails common sense as to why the Department did not issue show cause notice to M/s S.M. International and M/s. Ashtha Trading for the last two years when the amount of drawback of duty was above Rs. 5 crore. It needs a thorough probe to book the corrupt officers who closed the file and did not take any action.

The Amritsar Customs has had a history of smuggling activities and active connivance of the staff, both juniors as well as seniors. Way back in 1998, when large quantities of poppy seeds above 700 quin-tals were smuggled through Attari Rail, the DRI Amritsar seized the whole consignment. Four Inspectors and a Deputy Commissioner were suspended but a senior officer was only transferred. Surpris-ingly, the same officer has again been posted in Amritsar.

In another case, the DRI Ludhiana got intelligence inputs that Agro Impex, Tilak Bazar, Khari Baoli, Delhi, bearer of IEC CODE 0508069289 (New) and old IEC No 0503033766, were indulging in import of organ pipe coral (restricted item) by concealing them in sea shells and were allegedly involved in exporting of red sanders wood (prohibited item).

The DRI made seizures of 10.723 MT of red sanders wood along with pebbles from container no ESPU2044696-5 on 12-12-09


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and seized 4,795 MT of organ pipe coral from container no GESU 2624870 on 14-12-09. The show cause notice of the seizure portion had already been issued by DRI vide F. No. 856(28)LDH/2009/pt-XI/3009-3121 dated 8-6-10. However, the case could not be further in-vestigated because the Amritsar Customs did not provide the docu-ments to DRI and intimated that records were not traceable.

In reply to the RTI application regarding the documents wanted in the case, the Department simply replied that these were not available.

How could all the records - like Invoices, packing list, SOF dec-laration mentioned in the shipping bills - disappear when the same had to be provided to DRI for further investigation? This raises seri-ous questions about the functioning of the Department.

Further, in the sander wood case, exporters were merchant ex-porters and have no permission of factory stuffing and has to bring the goods on their own vehicle in the customs area as per instruction and trade notice in this context.

Thereafter, the goods have to be verified by the Inspectors and a report has to be submitted in the prescribed proforma. If no export benefit is involved, then goods may or may not be examined and is stuffed in the containers and ‘let export’ is given by the Superinten-dent.

Further whether the Department has fixed any responsibility on any officer for misplacement of the documents.

Documents pertaining to a case are known to disappear in or-der to make the case technically weak.

It is also interesting to note that names of officers who exam-ined and allowed let export were missing in the shipping bill.

In this context, the factual position regarding the factory stuff-ing or stuffing in ICD could have been verified from the requisition of containers from shipping lines.

In the case of smuggling of 14 kg of heroin in the wall clocks in 2008 and subsequent seizure of 1.5 kg, there is an allegation that the probe has been conducted in such a way that the original culprit can be saved.

It is, therefore, desirable to expedite the probe by a senior offi-cer of CBEC to draw the logical conclusion.

Similarly, in the case against Kudo Export Derabasi involving Rs. 40 lakh of duty allegation of favoritism and distortion of facts in case have been leveled. The case also needs to be investigated to find out truth.

The Hero group case, running into crores and which was de-tected in January 2008, has also not been investigated properly, said sources.

Investigations into cases of Raghu Exports & G.K. Exports en-gaged in semi finished leather too remain inconclusive. The DRI Lud-hiana booked a case for clearing semi finished leather in the garb of



finished leather. DRI has already issued SCN involving Customs duty of Rs. 24 crores and Rs. 58 crores.In this case, one range officer was transferred. However the culprit was another range officer who sealed the maximum containers was not touched at all as that officer had the blessing of a senior officer, sources said. The same officer was posted at DG Vigilance later on.

In a number of cases, main culprits are roaming freely due to interference of senior officers. There are a number of more such cases of corruption and wrongdoing waiting to be taken up by the CBEC in right earnest.

[Source : Revenue Transparency Times, June 2011]

CIC tells PMO : All meeting of PM not sensitive, give info

Not all meetings of the Prime Minister are sensitive and their details should be provided under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission has directed the Prime Minister’s Office.

Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra rejected the PMO’s contention that such class of information could not be pro-vided “without compromising interests of the State and other speci-fied concerns”.

The case relates to an RTI application filed by Sandeep Jalan of Mumbai- based Janhit Manch seeking to know the details of all the meetings participated by the PM during a specified period.

The information was rejected by the PMO, saying most of the information would come under the exemption clauses of the RTI Act. Mishra, however, said : “Not all meetings attended by the PM are of such nature that the details such as who all attended the meeting or the date on which the meeting took place could compromise the inter-est of the State.”

He directed the PMO to give details of the PM’s meetings and directed to omit only those which would come under the exemption clauses citing reasons for deleting information.

[Source : The Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 27-6-2011]

CIC raps CBI for not giving info on AmbanisThe Central Information Commission (CIC) has summoned CBI

officials for failure to give reasons on why the Ambani brothers were not chargesheeted in the call rerouting case.

The CBI had last year filed a chargesheet against five Reliance Industries executives in a case related to passing off of international calls as local calls and causing revenue loss to the government.

Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has asked the CBI public information officer to explain why penalty should not be im-posed for failing to comply with the commission’s order and providing information on the issue.

Giving the order, Gandhi said : “From facts before the commis-sion, it appears you have failed to comply with the Commission’s or-der and not provided the requisite information in the specified time.


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The denial on your part in providing information amounts to wilful dis-obedience and also raises a reasonable doubt that the denial may be mala fide.”

The CBI had earlier rejected the RTI application filed by Delhi resident P.C. Srivastava saying that information sought was confiden-tial and disclosure would impede the investigation. The agency public information officer argued before the commission that, “CBI had de-cided to prosecute certain Directors and the reasons for not prosecut-ing Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani were on record. However, dis-closing such information would provide clues to other persons ac-cused in the case by which they would be able to argue why they should not be charged.” While ordering for disclosure, Gandhi said the PIO had failed to produce any cogent evidence on the basis of which she had established that disclosure of information will impede the prosecution of offenders.

[Source : The Times of India, New Delhi, dated 27-6-2011]

ClarificationNews item published at page A122 of the E.L.T. dated 27th

June, 2011, under the caption “High Court order DRI not to arrest husband under COFEPOSA”. Hon’ble Justice V. Dhanapalan, before whom the writ petition in question came up for hearing had merely or-dered notice to authorities and no order restraining arrest of Zahir Hussain was passed. Confusion created due to caption of said news may be is regretted. — E.L.T. Bureau.

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CESTAT - Transfer of Members - The Inside Story

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