"I want to inform you about various wrongdoings done by the department. Unfortunately as an Advocate I cannot name the client without his expressed instruction and do not want to name officer in the wrongdoing as I do not wish to harm any officer. I don’t really know what to do. Can a wrongdoing be exposed/corrected without assessee/officers name?" Thanks, The Facebook Team

http://indiankanoon.org/doc/582291/

CEA No.106 of 2007 -1-   IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH   CEA No.106 of 2007 DATE OF DECISION: February 3, 2010. M/S GMP FINISHING MILLS, AMRITSAR ...APPELLANT  VERSUS COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, ...RESPONDENT JALANDHAR

"Whether it is just and fair to reject the refund claim when excise duty was paid under protest and against provisional assessment order?" 

Counsel for the appellant has argued that duty was liable to be paid in respect of galleries. It is contended that once it has been held in M/s Sangam Processors’ case (supra) that size of galleries was not to be included in the chambers for the purpose of capacity determination and no duty was liable to be paid by the manufacturer, therefore, the Revenue was liable to refund the duty paid on the galleries. On the other hand, counsel for the respondent has submitted that the appellant has not relied on any material to show that it has not collected the duty paid by it from the buyers of the goods. It is contended that refund of duty would tantamount to unjust enrichment of the appellant, as it has already recovered the duty from the buyers and would be getting the refund also, if the appeal is allowed, which is impermissible. We have heard the counsel for the parties at length. The main issue involved in the present appeal is that doctrine of unjust enrichment is applicable to the facts of the present case or not? As far as the payment of duty on the galleries is concerned, it is not in dispute CEA No.106 of 2007 that the appellant was not liable to pay duty on the same and was entitled to refund. However, before getting the refund, the appellant had to place on record sufficient material to show that it had paid the duty itself and had not passed on the burden on to his buyers. In the present case, no material has been placed on record by the appellant to show that it has not recovered the duty paid by him from his buyers and hence the appellant cannot be allowed to receive the refund as that would tantamount to unjust enrichment. Apart from the above, Section 11(B)(1) specifically provides that application for refund shall be accompanied by such documentary or other evidence, as the applicant may furnish, in order to establish that amount on duty of excise in relation to which the refund is being claimed was paid by him and the incidence of said duty has not been passed on by him to any other person. In the absence of any material to show that incidence of duty has not been passed on to any other

buyer, it would have to be presumed that the appellant has collected the duty from his customers. The appellant has failed to discharge the legal obligation as no documentary or any other proof in this regard has been adduced by it. The departmental authorities have righty relied on the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in CEA Mumbai−II vs. Allied Phogographics India Ltd., reported as 2004(166) ELT 3 (SC), wherein it has been held that doctrine of unjust enrichment could be validly invoked.

In view of the above, as the appellant has failed to prove that it has not recovered the duty paid by him from any of his customers and has thus, failed to discharge the onus, hence the appellant is debarred from taking the amount of refund as that would amount to unjust enrichment. The orders of the Tribunal as well as authorities below in directing the CEA No.106 of 2007 refund amount to be credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund is upheld.

US: Due to the removal of the word "lawful" from the 16th Amendment in 1916, even income earned via illegal activities is subject to tax. This put criminals like *** in a bind because they could either admit breaking the law and file proper taxes (essentially confessing), or cheat on taxes and risk getting jailed for evasion. In addition to paying fines and the outstanding tax bill, *** was sentenced to 11 years in prison. ...As we can see from the troubles of these five people, what you may save now will not be worth what you have to pay later. http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=11932331

Broadly, the CBEC report has sought the removal of numerous exemptions, drawbacks and concessions that have turned SEZs into tax-avoidance conduits for importers and exporters without any genuine business to back them.

The CBEC’s revenue loss estimate Rs 1,75,000 crore has been derived from concessions extended for capital goods and raw material procured by functioning SEZs developers  ... The CBEC had estimated an overall revenue loss of Rs 3,50,000 crore involved in the creation of all SEZs since 2006, when the Act was passed.

The report has also suggested redefining the term "exports" by deleting the provision that allows exports to include supplying goods from one unit to another in the same or different SEZ. Investigations have found that the provision enables exporters to claim concession by transferring goods to another SEZ without physically exporting anything.

... Further, provisions of the Customs Act and Central Excise Act should be made applicable to SEZs for recovery of interest, fines or penalties if a unit fails to utilise exempted goods for authorised operations or is unable to account for the goods it imports. Currently, these provisions are exempt under SEZ Act.

Among the other key recommendations are provisions for the valuation of goods under the Custom Valuation Rules 1988, surprise checks by custom officials to examine goods and the introduction of documents for SEZs that procure goods domestically (many tend to show these purchases as imports to benefit from duty concessions).

The report has also said, the direct delivery facility without custom assessment at present prevalent only for movement of all goods within SEZs, should be restricted to emergency cargo and units with impeccable track records.

From the security perspective, CBEC has suggested that cargo, vehicles, documents and people passing in and out of SEZs should be made open to custom surveillance, both physically and through close circuit television as an anti-smuggling measure.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sez-act-needs-overhaul-cbec/383867/

SC: CIVIL APPEAL NO.225 OF 2010 Commissioner Of Central Ex. vs M/S. International Auto Limited on 8 January, 2010 http://indiankanoon.org/doc/894861/

Border Security Force (BSF) officials seized heroin worth 250 millions here on Sunday. Acting on a tip off that two smugglers were trying to smuggle in heroin into India, BSF guards laid a trap. "In Khemkaran sector near the pillar number 169/4 two Pakistani smugglers entered into the Indian side and when they were about 20 meters from the border a BSF constable heard some noise and on hearing this noise when he challenged them the Pakistani smugglers fired on the BSF constable. On being fired the BSF constable also retaliated. But taking advantage of the fog they tried to escape but left behind five packets of heroin," said Rajesh Gupta, Deputy Inspector General, BSF, Ferozepur. Punjab border with Pakistan is notorious for smuggling illegal drugs, fake Indian currency and weapons. Last year the BSF seized around 47.7 kilograms of heroin and fake Indian currency worth over Rupees three million on the Punjab border, besides nabbing four Pakistan-based smugglers.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/heroin-seized-punjab-715

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 5 (DPA) Malaysian airport police seized 150 kg of ketamine worth 2.7 million ringgit ($780,000), which were hidden among boxes of Hindu prayer ash from India, a news report said Tuesday.The drugs were seized during a check on a container from Chennai, India, which was docked Wednesday at the western port of Klang, the New Straits Times daily said. Customs officers discovered that the container, which also held spices and Hindu prayer paraphernalia, contained 130 boxes of ketamine, department Director-General Ibrahim Jaapar said. He said authorities were working with Indian counterparts on the case but have yet to make any arrests. http://www.citybengaluru.com/drugs-hidden-with-indian-prayer-ash-seized-in-malaysia/ 

66.4 Kg Ketamine seized by Malaysian Airport Customs from 3 Indians bound for Bali island in Indonesia from Bangaladesh

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 10 (DPA) Malaysian airport customs police have arrested three Indian nationals and seized 66.4 kilograms of the drug ketamine worth some 1.2 million ringgit ($350,000), a news report said Thursday. The drugs were seized Tuesday while the suspects were in transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Aiport. They were bound for Bali island in Indonesia, said customs Assistant Director General Mohamad Hassim Pardi.

The three suspects, aged 25 to 35, had arrived from Bangladesh, he said. ...He said 36 foreign nationals, 27 of them Indian nationals, have been detained for attempting to smuggle drugs since January. .. He said the suspects would be charged with drug trafficking which carries a mandatory death sentence by hanging.  http://www.citybengaluru.com/three-indians-held-with-drugs-in-malaysia/

Commissioner of Central Excise, Ludhiana Versus M/s Garg Industries 16.12.2009 HC PUNJAB AND HARYANA CEA No. 33 of 2006 http://indiankanoon.org/doc/386974/