Coercive Collection of Customs Duty – Customs Commissioner hauled up for Contempt
Today's DDT is all about cases. We came across an important decision of the Bombay High Court delivered on 19.12.2009. Normally we would have carried this judgement after a month or so, but the issue being so important, we have to break it through the DDT route.
This is all about overzealous Customs officers who coerce the assessees into paying duties and taxes which they are not required to pay. The efficiency of a preventive officer or an Audit Officer is judged based on his ‘spot collections' – how much he can extract from that harried assessee, by means fair or foul. The tragedy is the best of the assessees break down under pressure and hand over those cheques to these officers who behave like thugs and highway robbers to collect Revenue for the Nation.
In this particular case, the officers extracted a cheque for Rs. 2.85 Crores from the assessee, even though his appeal was pending before the CESTAT and his crime was that his applications were pending with the DGFT. For the delay on the part of one wing of the government, the officers wanted to punish the assessee. And they did!.
When the matter was before the High Court, the Court gave time to the Revenue Counsel to seek instructions from the Commissioner, but the Commissioner stuck to his stand and the High Court ordered that the amount collected illegally by coercion should be returned with a 6% interest.
And the Commissioner has been issued a contempt notice!
Should officers go to such extremes to bring a bad name to the government? They should be projecting an image that government is all about protecting the interests of the citizens, but unfortunately we have a few officers who by their behaviour convey a feeling that government is all about harassment and unfair treatment!
Please see Breaking News for this judgement also.