Gujarat High Court
Bhargavraj Rameshkumar Mehta vs Union Of India & on 3 October, 2017
Author: S.R.Brahmbhatt
Bench: S.R.Brahmbhatt, A.G.Uraizee
C/SCA/19956/2016 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 19956 of 2016
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BHARGAVRAJ RAMESHKUMAR MEHTA....Petitioner(s)
Versus
UNION OF INDIA & 1....Respondent(s)
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Appearance:
MR BHUSHAN B OZA, ADVOCATE for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR SUDHIR M MEHTA, ADVOCATE for the Respondent(s) No. 2
NOTICE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.R.BRAHMBHATT
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE A.G.URAIZEE
Date : 03/10/2017
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.R.BRAHMBHATT) Heard learned counsel for the parties. The court, while issuing the notice, made the following observations:
"1. Mr. Suresh Balasubramanian, learned advocate for the petitioner invited the attention of the court to the impugned order to point out that a penalty of Rs.2,00,00,000/- has been imposed upon the petitioner under section 112(a) of the Customs Act, 1962. Reference was made to Annexure-II to the show cause notice to point out that the total duty has been computed by the authority at Rs.84,63,548/-. The attention of the court was invited to the provisions of section 112 of the Customs Act, 1962, which provide for penalty for improper importation of goods etc. and, inter-alia, provides that any person, (a) who, in relation to any goods, does or omits to do any act which act or omission would render such goods liable to confiscation under section 111, or abets the doing or omission of such an act, shall be liable (ii) in the case of dutiable goods, other than prohibited goods, to a penalty not exceeding ten percent of the duty sought to be evaded or five Page 1 of 3 HC-NIC Page 1 of 3 Created On Sat Oct 07 09:34:28 IST 2017 C/SCA/19956/2016 ORDER thousand rupees, whichever is higher. It was submitted that if the petitioner were to prefer an appeal before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, in view of the provisions of section 129E of the Act, he would be required to deposit seven and a half percent of the duty, in case where duty or duty and penalty are in dispute or penalty, where such penalty is in dispute. It was submitted that, therefore, if the penalty had been levied in accordance with the provisions of section 112(a), the liability of the petitioner would be only to the extent of about Rs.8,40,000/- and accordingly, the pre- deposit would be limited to seven and a half percent thereof, whereas in the present case, the petitioner would be required to deposit at least Rs.15,00,000/- by way of pre-deposit, which makes the remedy of appeal illusory.
2. In view of the submissions advanced by the learned advocate for the petitioner, Issue Notice returnable on 19th December, 2016. Direct service is permitted qua the respondent No.2."
2 Today, learned counsel for the Revenue was called upon to explain as to how and in what manner the liability could be fastened upon the present petitioner so far as the import of gold in question is concerned in respect of four bills of entries, out of which, two bills of entries are of Shiv Enterprises, which is partly owned by the petitioner.
3 He took us through the notice and indicated that the bills of entries so far as the gold in question are concerned are four in number, out of which two firms are partly owned by the petitioner. However, he could not point out as to whether the petitioner was responsible for the declaration so as to rope him in the present proceedings and there was no specific reply to the same. We are of the view that the matter requires consideration.
Page 2 of 3HC-NIC Page 2 of 3 Created On Sat Oct 07 09:34:28 IST 2017 C/SCA/19956/2016 ORDER 3 Hence, RULE returnable on 8th November 2017. In the meanwhile, no coercive steps be taken pursuant to the order impugned in this petition.
(S.R.BRAHMBHATT, J.) (A.G.URAIZEE, J.) mohd Page 3 of 3 HC-NIC Page 3 of 3 Created On Sat Oct 07 09:34:28 IST 2017