THE
CUSTOMS (COMPOUNDING OF OFFENCES) RULES, 2005
In
exercise of the powers conferred by clause (h) of sub-section (2) of section
156, read with sub-section (3) of section 137, of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of
1962), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely :-
1.
Short title and commencement.-
(1)
These rules may be called the Customs (Compounding of Offences) Rules, 2005.
(2) They shall come into force on the
date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
In
these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-
a.
?Act? means the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);
b.
?applicant? means any importer, exporter or any other person, but shall not
include officers of Customs as appointed by Board or Commissioner of Customs
under section 4;
c.
?compounding authority? means the Chief Commissioner of Customs, having
jurisdiction over the place where the offence under the Customs Act, 1962, has
been or alleged to have been committed;
d.
?form? means the form appended to these rules;
e.
?reporting authority? means the Commissioner of Customs, having jurisdiction
over the place where the offence under the Act has been or alleged to have been
committed or any other officer as may be authorized in this regard by the Chief
Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the place where such offence
has been or alleged to have been committed;
f.
?section? means a section of the Act; and
g.
words and expressions used in these rules and not defined but defined in the
Act shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the Act.
3. Form and manner of
application. ?
(1)
An applicant may, either before or after institution of prosecution, make an
application under sub-section (3) of section 137 in the form appended to these
rules, to the compounding authority for compounding of the offence.
Explanation.-
Where an offence has been committed at more than one place falling under the
jurisdiction of more than one compounding authority, then the Chief
Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over such place where the value of
goods seized, or the amount of duty evaded or attempted to be evaded or amount
of export incentives wrongly claimed or attempted to be claimed wrongly is more
than others shall be the competent authority.
4. Procedure on receipt
of application under rule 3. -
(1)
On receipt of an application under rule 3, the compounding authority shall call
for a report from the reporting authority with reference to the particulars
furnished in the application, or any other information, which may be considered
relevant for examination of such application.
(2)
Such report shall be furnished by the reporting authority within a period of one
month or within such extended period as may be allowed by the compounding
authority, from the date of receipt of communication from the compounding
authority.
(3)
The compounding authority after taking into account the contents of the said
application may, by order, either allow the application indicating the
compounding amount in terms of rule 5 and grant him immunity from prosecution
in terms of rule 6 or reject such application:
Provided
that application shall not be rejected unless an opportunity has been given to
the applicant of being heard and the grounds of such rejection are mentioned in
such order.
1[Provided
further that application shall not be allowed unless the duty, penalty and
interest liable to be paid have been paid for the case for which application
has been made.]
(4)
A copy of every order under sub rule (3) shall be sent to the applicant.
(5)
The applicant shall, within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of
order under sub- rule (3) allowing the compounding of offences, pay the
compounding amount, as ordered to be paid by the compounding authority and
shall furnish the proof of such payment to the compounding authority.
(6)
The compounding amount once paid shall not be refunded except in cases where
the Court rejects grant of immunity from prosecution.
(7)
The applicant cannot claim, as of right, that his offence shall be compounded.
2[5.
Fixation of the Compounding amount .-
For the purpose of compounding of
offences under the various provisions of the Act, the compounding amount shall
be as provided in the following Table :-
|
Sl.No |
Offence |
Compounding
amount |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
1 |
Offence specified
under Section 132 of the Act |
Fifty thousand
rupees for the first offence and to be increased by hundred per cent of this
amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
2 |
Offence specified
under Section 133 of the Act |
Fifty thousand
rupees for the first offence and to be increased by hundred per cent of this
amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
3 |
Offence specified
under Section 134 of the Act |
Fifty thousand
rupees for the first offence and to be increased by hundred per cent of this
amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
4 |
Offence specified
under Section 135(1)(a) of the Act |
Upto ten per cent
of the amount of market value of the goods or one lakh rupees, whichever is
higher. |
|
5 |
Offence specified
under Section 135(1)(b) of the Act |
Upto five per cent
of the amount of market value of the goods or one lakh rupees, whichever is
higher. |
|
6 |
Offence specified
under Section 135(1)(c) of the Act |
Upto ten per cent
of the amount of market value of the goods or one lakh rupees, whichever is
higher. |
|
7 |
Offence specified
under Section 135(1)(d) of the Act |
Upto ten per cent
of the amount of market value of the goods or one lakh rupees, whichever is
higher. |
|
8 |
Offence specified
under Section 135A of the Act |
Upto five per cent
of the amount of market value of the goods or one lakh rupees, whichever is
higher.] |
6. Power of Compounding authority to grant
immunity from prosecution.-
The
compounding authority, if he is satisfied that any person who has made the
application for compounding of offence under these rules has co-operated in the
proceedings before him and has made full and true disclosure of facts relating
to the case, grant to such person, subject to such conditions as he may think
fit to impose, immunity from prosecution for any offence under the Customs Act,
1962 with respect to the case covered by the compounding of offence.
7. Withdrawal of
Immunity from Prosecution in certain conditions.-
(1)
An immunity granted to a person under rule 6 shall stand withdrawn if such
person fails to pay any sum specified in the order of compounding passed by the
Compounding authority, under sub-rule (3) of rule 4 within the time specified
in such order or fails to comply with any other condition subject to which the
immunity was granted and thereupon the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962
shall apply as if no such immunity had been granted.
(2)
An immunity granted to a person under sub rule (1) above may, at any time, be
withdrawn by the Compounding authority, if he is satisfied that such person
had, in the course of the compounding proceedings, concealed any particulars,
material or had given false evidence, and thereupon such person may be tried
for the offence with respect to which immunity was granted or for any other offence
that appears to have been committed by him in connection with the compounding
proceedings and thereupon the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 shall apply
as if no such immunity had been granted.
(see
rule 3)
(Application
for compounding offence)
1. Full Name and address of the
applicant:
2. Address for communication:
3. (i) Permanent Account Number (PAN):
(ii) Import Export Code (IEC) No:
4. Commissioner of Customs having
jurisdiction over the applicant:
5. The violation of provisions of
Customs Act, 1962, against which prosecution is instituted or contemplated for
which application of Compounding:
6. Details of Bill(s) of Entry
/Shipping Bill(s)/Adjudication order in relation to the case for compounding:
7. Date of seizure, if any:
8. Brief facts of the case and
particulars of the offence(s) charged:
9. Whether Show Cause Notice issued:
10. If yes, details of duty/export
incentives demanded:
11. whether Show Cause Notice has been
adjudicated:
12. If yes, adjudication details:
(a) Amount of duty confirmed:
(b) Export incentive to be
recovered/denied:
(c) Fine imposed:
(d) Penalty imposed:
1[12A. Whether the amount of duty,
penalty and interest have been paid and if yes, the details thereof.]
13. Whether this is the first offence
under the Customs Act, 1962. If not details of previous cases:
14. Whether any proceedings for the
same offence contemplated under any other law, if so the details thereof:
Name and Signature of the applicant.
DECLARATION
1. I shall pay the compounding amount,
as may be fixed by the compounding authority under sub-rule (3) of Rule 4 of
the Customs (Compounding of Offences) Rules, 2005.
2. I understand that I cannot claim, as
of right that the offence committed by me under the Act shall be compounded.
Name and Signature of the applicant.
VERIFICATION
I, ---------------the son/daughter/wife
of----------------residing at ------do solemnly declare that I am making this
application in my capacity as ------ and I am competent to verify it.
That
the contents of this application are true to the best of my knowledge and
belief and no information relevant to the facts of the case has been
suppressed. The documents accompanying the application are true copies of the
originals and the tables showing financial transactions are correct and are
duly attested by me.
Verified today the ------ day of ------
(month), ------ (year) at ------.
Name and Signature of the applicant.
Place:
Date:
_______________________________
1. Inserted by the
Customs (Compounding of Offences) Amendment Rules, 2008 vide Notification No.
118/2008-Customs(N.T.) dated 12.11.2008.
2. Inserted by the
Customs (Compounding of Offences) Amendment Rules, 2008 vide Notification No.
118/2008-Customs(N.T.) dated 12.11.2008.
"5. Fixation of the Compounding
amount .-
For the purpose of compounding of
offences under the various provisions of the Act , the compounding amount shall
be as provided herein below.-
|
S.
No. |
Offence |
Compounding amount |
|
1 |
Offence
specified under section 132 of the Act |
Rupees fifty thousand for the first offence and to be
increased by hundred per cent. of this amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
2 |
Offence
specified under section 133 of the Act |
Rupees fifty thousand for the first offence and to be
increased by hundred per cent. of this amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
3 |
Offence
specified under section 134 of the Act |
Rupees fifty thousand for the first offence and to be
increased by hundred per cent. of this amount for each subsequent offence. |
|
4 |
Offence
specified under section 135(1)(a) of the Act |
Upto twenty per cent. of market value of the goods or
Rupees ten lakhs whichever is higher. |
|
5 |
Offence
specified under section 135(1)(b) of the Act |
Upto twenty per cent. of market value of the goods or
Rupees ten lakhs whichever is higher. |
|
6 |
Offence
specified under section 135(1)(c) of the Act |
Upto twenty per cent. of market value of the goods or
Rupees ten lakhs whichever is higher. |
|
7 |
Offence
specified under section 135A of the Act |
Upto twenty per cent. of market value of the goods or
Rupees ten lakhs whichever is higher." |