Govt eases penal provisions for customs, excise offences

In a bid to reduce harassment of overseas travellers, the government today eased the penal provisions by raising fourfold to Rs 20 lakh the limit of undeclared or mis-declared baggage that will attract arrest or prosecution.
Presently, overseas travellers can pay a fine for any undeclared or misdeclared baggage of a value up to Rs 5 lakh. Any such baggage beyond this limit attracts prosecution or arrest. The government has now raised this limit to Rs 20 lakh.
"In cases of outright smuggling or mis-declaration of baggage, the limits regarding value of offending goods have been revised from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh," a Finance Ministry statement said.

Similarly, the monetary limits for arrests and prosecution have been raised for offenders under other acts including Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax.
However, there will be no limit for arrest and prosecution in the cases of smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, arms, ammunitions and explosives and endangered species.
Also, the procedure for arrest and sanction of prosecution has been revised and specified with adequate safeguards to ensure that these powers are exercised only in serious cases above the revised thresholds.
"The monetary limits for arrest and prosecution have been revised substantially upwards to ensure that these powers are not used against small and medium businesses," the statement added.