Date – 21 March 2023

Parties - M/s Akansha Logistics Vs Commissioner of Customs, New Delhi

Facts – 

• The Appellate, M/s. Akansha Logistics, is a licenced Customs Broker and in that capacity, it can file Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills in any Custom House.
• M/s. Roha Dye Chem Pvt. Ltd. filed a Shipping Bill no. 6351994 in the Nhava Sheva Custom House for export of “VAT BLUE 20” with the appellant’s name as the Customs Broker.
• Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch of the Custom house examined the goods and it was found that the container had, instead of the declared goods, 24.57 MT of red sanders logs whose export is prohibited.
• The Appellate submission was that it had nothing to do with the attempted export at all as the Shipping Bill was not filed by it or with its knowledge or consent.
• The additional commissioner held that the appellant was negligent in not checking which Shipping Bills were filed in its name as directed by the Commissioner of Customs, and on this ground a penalty was imposed against the appellate under Section 114 (i) of The Customs Act, 1962.

Issue – 

• Whether the Appellate was negligent in not checking which Shipping Bills were filed in its name as directed by the Commissioner of Customs?

Order –

• The Tribunal observed that the exporter M/s. Roha Dye Chem Pvt. Ltd. was not the client of Appellate, and that the appellant was not aware that the Shipping Bill was filed, further the Appellate was also unaware that the exporter violated the law, and ultimately that the appellant had not advised the exporter.
• Further, the Tribunal stated that any Facility Notice by the Commissioner is to facilitate the processes and procedure in the Custom House, and it does not take the shape of a statutory regulation, which means that even if there was a violation of any instructions in such notice, it does not automatically be concluded that the Regulations have been violated.
• In addition to this, if the system is not designed to send an alert to the Customs Broker if a Shipping Bill is filed in its name in the service centre at the Custom House and only sends an alert if it is filed online, the appellant cannot be faulted if this loophole in the system was exploited by another person after making a fake Customs card.
• The appeal is allowed, and the impugned order is set aside with consequential relief to the appellant.