Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 2

Customs Act (IV of 1969)--Ss. 2(s), 32, 45, 48, 156, 192 & 194-A---Misdeclaration of description of goods---Imposition of penalty---Appeal to Appellate Tribunal---Allegation against the appellant who was the Agent of a foreign concern, was that he misdeclared the description of goods in question and a penalty of Rs.25,00,000 was imposed on him---Validity---Nothing had been brought on record by the department which could prima facie establish that the appellant, in any circumstances, was involved in misdeclaration of the goods on the bill of lading; and was acting in collusion with the importer---In case of misdeclaration the initial burden was on the department to prove the guilt of mis­declaration against the person charged with the allegation---Not a single word was available on record to show that the appellant, in connivance and in collusion with the importer, misdeclared the description of the goods---Appellant clearly established from the contents of the bill of lading; and the disclaimer therein that "the quality, quantity and nature of the cargo stuffed inside the container was unknown to the carrier, shippers load stow and count"---Nothing had been brought on record by the department to disprove that what was stated on the bill of lading was incorrect and the appellant was acting in connivance with and/or in collusion with the importer---Case was of gross miscarriage of justice on the part of the department which malafidely involved the appellants in the case despite the fact that they did not bring any incriminating evidence, either oral or documentary on record; and yet they chose to implicate the appellant along with the Importer---Imposition of penalty on the appellant was illegal and void ab initio---Impugned order imposing penalty was set aside, in circumstances. Eastern Federal Union Insurance Company v. American President Lines Ltd., PLD 1992 SC 291; Messrs P&O Containers Pakistan v. The Collector of Customs, SBLR 2001 Kar. 93 and Messrs Tariq Sheikh International v. The Additional Collector of Customs, 2005 PTD (Trib.) 10 ref. ORDER MUHAMMAD ARIF MOTON, MEMBER (JUDICAL-II).---This order will dispose of Customs Appeal No.K-12 of 2009…

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