The petitioner has filed a Bill of Entry No.8575624 dated 23.10.2018 for import of goods declared as "Shirt pin for garments, sealed rope for garments, safety pin for garments, shirt clip for garments, Christmas decoration light and horn" from China. On suspicion, the goods were examined and found to cotnain some declared goods along with 2,22,00,000 Nos of "White crane needles" and 67,20,000 Nos. of "Sewing Machine Needles" concealed in the back part of the 40 feet container behind and underneath the declared goods. Therefore, the same was seized vide Mahazar dated 27.10.2018. The information was received by the Department that industrial needles which attract additional duty were imported in the container No.HMMU6066767, even before the opening of the container. The offending goods were concealed towards the back end of the container underneath the declared cargo and therefore, the petitioner's contention that the goods were inadvertently shipped by the overseas buyer is incorrect. The petitioner is not the actual importer of the goods and he is not aware of the goods imported and also failed to submit any document to substantiate to prove the original importer of the goods. The investigation is still under progress and the persons involved are not cooperating inspite of issuance of various summons. The goods have been mis-declared to evade the payment of total duty to the tune of Rs.5,63,63,853/-, which includes ADD liability of Rs.4,44,39,031/-. When the offending goods are more than the declared goods, the petitioner cannot claim innocence subsequent to detection by investigating agency, as if it was inadvertently shipped. The request for re-export of the goods concealed cannot be entertained, as they are liable to be confiscated.
