Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Mar 22: Top Central revenue department officials may have violated rules and tweaked with standard regulations, in order to facilitate quick release an offshore casino vessel in Goa, which was being probed at the time for massive duty evasion, a confidential enquiry report submitted by a Customs Superintendent has said.

The confidential report dated October 20, 2008 has hinted at forgery and attempted duty evasion on goods which were imported to be fitted on the M V Casino Royale to the tune of Rs 20 crore. The report by the Customs Superintendent in charge of the private bonded warehouse of M/s Waterways Shipyard Pvt Ltd had also cautioned against releasing the vessel, as a case of possible duty evasion was being made out.

The report echoes accusations made by leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar, who had said that the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise (Goa) had been pressurised by a certain officer from the chief minister’s office and the former state secretary into releasing the ship, even as it was being probed for duty evasion to the tune of Rs 4 crore.

Parrikar had even produced a note issued by the Commissioner C. Mathur, who had stated in the communication to his junior officials, that he was seeking quick release of the vessel because of telephone calls from the two officials and after taking into consideration the ‘financial hardships’ of the offshore casino vessel’s buyer.

The M V Casino Royale was released despite a fervent plea by the Superintendent of Customs to conduct a thorough enquiry into the possibility of duty evasion. “It is evident that due to jurisdictional limitations I could not bring all the limitations on record, which could only be ascertained in a thorough investigation,” the report had cautioned.

The Superintendent’s report quoting section relevant sections of the Customs Act however states that ‘financial constraints of the importer are not to be considered as adequate ground for granting extension of Warehousing period,” the report states. “The requests for extension for a period beyond six months at the chief commissioner’s level may be considered only in respect of those cases where it is really warranted that the goods have to be kept in the warehouse under circumstances beyond the control of the importer,” it adds.

The report also categorically states that the seals of the Customs bonded warehouse had been forged and imported material worth Rs 20 crore including a helipad deck had been substituted, in a bid to avoid import dutY. A senior ranking Customs official said that the Superintendent of Customs had exceeded jurisdiction while compiling this report. “A bond officer’s jurisdiction is limited to the bonded area only,” the official said, adding that the department’s enquiry into the M V Casino Royale affair was still on. The official also said that the heli-deck mentioned in the report was a duty paid piece of equipment, and hence could not be linked to duty evasion.