New Delhi, January 06 2010: Left red-faced by the Rs 8 crore fine for allegedly making profits from supply of arms to its state units, the National Rifles Association of India, on Wednesday, said it will appeal against the penalty slapped by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

Insisting that it made no profit out of the supply, NRAI secretary Rajeev Bhatia said that the body was already in touch with the Sports Ministry on the matter and would soon be taking up the issue with the Finance Ministry.

"Reports which state that the fine is on any profit that we made out of the supply are untrue.

The fine is actually on the supply itself as the DRI says that we cannot give arms and ammunition imported by us to state bodies," Bhatia said.

"The DRI says that the arms are for NRAI's use and we cannot pass them on to somebody else.

But we have to support the affiliated state bodies, where will they go for arms if we don't supply them? We have not made any profits out of it," he asserted.

"We have been given three months' time to respond to the notice and we will appeal against it in a tribunal.

We have already met the Sports Ministry and we will soon be meeting officials of the Finance Ministry to discuss the matter," he added.

Earlier, reports claimed NRAI, which imported ammunition without duty, 'sold' it to the state units at a higher price, prompting the DRI to slap the fine.

Comment