Raj Bihari Ltd., an importer of goods, had filed a bill of entry after 60 days of filing of the Import General Manifest. The Deputy Commissioner of Customs imposed a penalty of ₹10,000 for the delayed filing of the bill

Bill of Entry under customs law (i) As per Section 46(3) of the Customs Act, 1965, the time limit for filing bill of entry is before the end of the next day following the day (excluding holidays) on which the aircraft/vessel/vehicle carrying the goods arrives at a custom station at which such goods are to be cleared for home consumption or warehousing. (ii) As per Regulation 3 of Bill Of Entry (Electronic Integrated Declaration And Paperless Processing) Regulations, 2018, where the bill of entry is not filed within the time specified in Section 46(3) of the Customs Act, 1965 and regulations made thereunder and the proper officer of Customs is satisfied that there was no sufficient cause for such delay, the importer shall be liable to pay charges for late presentation of the bill of entry at the rate of rupees five thousand per day for the initial three days of default and at the rate of rupees ten thousand per day for each day of default thereafter. Provided that where the proper officer is satisfied with the reasons of delay, he may waive off the charges. In the present case Raj Bihari Ltd. has filed the bill of entry late and therefore, shall be subject to charges @ ₹5,000 per day for 3 days and thereafter @ ₹10,000 per day. As such, there is no provision under the Customs Act whereunder penalty can be levied for delay in the filing if Bill of Entry. Thus, penalty imposed by Dy. Commissioner of Customs) cannot sustain. (iii) Yes, as per the first proviso to Section 46(3) of the Customs Act, a bill of entry can be filed in advance. It can be presented within 30 days of the expected arrival of the aircraft/ vessel vehicle by which the goods have been shipped for import into India.