Page 40 - ELT_1st September 2020_Vol 373_Part 5

A142 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

Customs staffer held, ` 1 crore seized
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Former Appraiser of
ICD (Inland Container Depot) Tughlakabad, Saurav Sharma, currently posted in
the office of Chief Commissioner of Customs in Chennai, for allegedly demand-
ing and accepting bribes from private parties for import consignments cleared by
him, officials said. The agency has recovered ` 1 crore cash from his residence,
officials added. CBI Spokesperson R.K. Gaur said the Former Appraiser, ICD,
Tuglakabad, Delhi was regularly pursuing private parties and few officials for
payment of pending undue advantage in lieu of import consignments.
[Based on Hindustan Times, New Delhi, dated 19-8-2020]

Hong Kong exports will be re-labelled as ‘Made in China’ :
US
Goods made in Hong Kong for export to the US will need to be labelled
as ‘Made In China’ after September 25, according to a US Government notice
posted on 11-8-2020.
The move follows China’s imposition of a National Security Law on
Hong Kong and a US decision to end the Former British colony’s special status
under US law, escalating bilateral tensions that were already rising over trade
war tariffs and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest step will see Hong Kong companies subject to the same trade
war tariffs levied on mainland Chinese exporters, should they make products
subject to these duties, said the US. It said that 45 days after its publication,
goods “must be marked to indicate that their origin is ‘China’ ”.
The step was taken after the US determined that Hong Kong is “no long-
er sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to China”.
Trump has made tough talk against China a feature of his campaign for
re-election in November.
The US on 7-8-2020 imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive
Carrie Lam and the city’s current and Former Police Chiefs accused of curtailing
political freedoms in the former British colony.
In retaliation, China imposed sanctions on 11 US citizens, including
lawmakers from Trump’s Republican Party on 10-8-2020.
[Source : Business Standard, New Delhi, dated 12-8-2020]

Another Excise official held in multi-crore tax evasion case
Senior officials, including an Assistant Excise and Taxation Commission-
er (AETC), are under the lens in the multi-crore GST evasion racket unearthed by
the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on 21-8-2020.
The bureau has arrested another Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO),
Dinesh Gaud. Six arrests were made during statewide raids on 21-8-2020. The
bureau has booked 12 persons, including taxmen, for corruption, cheating, forg-
ing documents and under other sections.
As per the FIRs, an AETC took ` 75,000 per month from one client while
officials ranging from inspectors to excise officers took ` 35,000 to ` 2 lakh per
EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st September 2020  40