2015 (7) TMI 1189 - HC - Customs

Discharge of accused - discharge on the basis of the direction issued by the High Court to dispose of the matters on priority basis pertaining to the order of 1996-1997 - Held that - there are no reasons to proceed against the accused persons and even splitting of the case would not serve the purpose - petition rejected - decided against petitioner.

Summary

Issues:
1. Discharge of accused by the Magistrate without splitting the case.
2. Allegations of non-conformity of exported goods with shipping bills and documents.
3. Seizure of cartons and documents by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.
4. Complaint lodged against accused under Cr.P.C. and Customs Act.
5. Evaluation of Trial Court's decision regarding the case against accused.

Analysis:
The judgment by the High Court of Karnataka involved a case where the Magistrate acquitted the accused persons in C.C. No. 42/1997 without splitting the case, leading to a challenge by the petitioner. The petitioner argued that the Magistrate erred in discharging the accused without splitting the case and proceeding against them. The petitioner contended that the Magistrate's decision was based on disposing of pending cases without considering the revenue implications, as the accused were discharged based on a High Court directive to prioritize cases from 1996-1997. The prosecution's case revolved around the non-conformity of goods exported from Mangalore New Port with shipping bills and documents, leading to the seizure of cartons from the vessel "M.V.EL.-NIEL" and documents from M/s. Savitha Enterprises by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. A complaint was lodged against the accused under Section 200 of Cr.P.C. read with Sections 114 and 135 of the Customs Act.

The High Court noted that the Trial Court found no valid reasons to proceed against the accused persons, and even splitting the case was deemed unnecessary. The judgment upheld the Trial Court's decision, emphasizing that there was no merit in the petitioner's argument. Consequently, the petition challenging the Magistrate's decision to discharge the accused without splitting the case was rejected by the High Court of Karnataka, affirming the Trial Court's ruling in the matter.