JUDGMENT
Archana Wadhwa
1. All the three appeals are being disposed of by a common order as they arise out of the same impugned order of Commissioner of Customs vide which he has imposed a personal penalty of Rs. 15,000/- on Sri Samir Kumar Dey and Rs. 50,000/- on Sri Ramanand Gupta who is the proprietor of M/s Uma Carrying Corporation and penalty of Rs. 5,000/- on Sri Sadhan Dey who is Booking Clerk of M/s Uma Carrying Corporation.
2. The above penalties have ben impose by the adjudicating authority on the ground that the truck belonging to M/s Uma Carrying Corporation was, on interception, was found to carry contraband items, whereas the consignment notes issued to Transport Company showed the same to be different than the actual consignment. Shri K.P. Dey, ld. Advocate appearing for the appellants/applicants explains that the consignment notes are prepared by the Transport Company based upon the declarations made by the consignor. The Booking Clerk or the official of the Transport Company are not expected to check the goods and tally the same with the declaration made by the consignor. Their job is to transport the goods against payment and it is not possible for transporter to verify, in each and every case, the legal status of the goods being transported through their Company.
3. On going through the impugned order, I find that there is no evidence on record reflecting upon the knowledge and involvement of the driver, the booking cleark and the transport company. They have been penalised on the sole ground that the truck attached to their transport company has been used for transportation of the contraband items. It is also seen that no efforts have been made by the Revenue to conduct enquiries form the consignees, whose name must have been reflected in the consignment notes. as such, I find that the imposition of personal penalty upon the appellants are not justified. The impugned order imposing penalties upon them is thus set aside and the appeals are allowed.
Pronounced in the open Court.