9911796707
TMI Blog1987 (1) TMI 251X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appellant Shrirang Sait and Rs. 5,000/- on appellant Balakrishna Pandit, under Section 112 of the Customs Act, 1962 ( the ACT for short). 3. On 3-5-85 on the basis of information the Preventive Officers attached to Customs and Central Excise Office, Madurai searched the residential premises of appellant Shrirang Sait at No.3, West Chetty Street, Madurai and recovered 10 gold bars and a small pyramid shaped gold ingot and a small gold bit. The appellant Shrirang Sait is running a silver refinery and Balakrishna Pandit is an employee under him. Since the appellants herein were neither licensed gold dealers nor certified goldsmiths and were not able to satisfactorily account for the gold bars in question, they were seized by the authoritie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e being very vague and not precise and clear, the impugned order should be set aside as vitiated in law. The vagueness of the charge would only prove failure of application of mind by the authorities before proceeding against the appellants; (4) The statements of appellant Balakrishna Pandit and Vilas, earlier retracted by their letter dated 6-5-85 which were again retracted by letter dated 26-6-85 are not acceptable in law; (5) The purity of the gold being 99% as evidenced by the mahazar, the gold under seizure cannot be said to be of foreign origin, particularly when the gold seized were of different weight and size. The learned Counsel also placed reliance on certain rulings which we shall advert to later. 5. The learned D.R. Shri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hrirang Sait under whom the other appellant Balakrishna Pandit is an employee along with one Vilas. We have gone through the statements recorded from appellant Balakrishna Pandit and Vilas given before the authorities on 3rd and 4th May, 1985. The statements given graphic details about entrustment of gold bars of foreign origin with foreign markings and how the foreign markings were defaced on the gold bars and how the gold bars were converted into long gold biscuits as directed. On going through the statements and considering the attendant circumstances we are convinced that the said inculpatory statements are voluntary and true and would merit acceptance. We are not inclined to attach any importance to the retractions of the same by lette ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y his employees Balakrishna Pandit and Vilas. In such a situation even if the presumption under Section 123 of the Act is not specifically applicable if the gold under seizure is not permitted to be imported under the law, it would be open to an adjudicating authority to take into consideration the correctness or acceptability of the statements in relation to the licit and bona fide acquisition of the same. Since appellant Shrirang Sait at the initial stage by statement dated 1-7-85 has totally disowned and disclaimed any connection at all with the gold, admittedly seized from his own residence, and has not produced any acceptable evidence justifying his claim of ownership, the inference is irresistable that the gold under seizure would hav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ause notice and we find that all the necessary factual details and ingredients have been clearly set out. We, therefore, find that the ratio of the ruling of the Madras High Court in the case of B. Lakshmichand v. Government of India, reported in 1983 E.L.T. 322 (Mad.), is not applicable to the facts of the case. The contention of the learned Counsel that the gold bars under seizure were all of different sizes and weight and this circumstance would disprove the department s case that they are of foreign origin, is also not legally tenable. Likewise, the plea of the learned Counsel that the purity being 99% as evidenced by the mahzar, the gold should be of Indian origin , is also not acceptable. In this context we would like to advert to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on of India and others, reported in 1983 E.L.T. 2142 (Del.), to contend that previous antecedents of appellant Srirang Salt are not relevant criteria to adjudge the contravention in the present case. The learned Counsel also relied on this particular ruling to contend that high purity ipso facto would not prove the gold to be of foreign origin and the previous bad antecedents of the person concerned with reference to erasure would not establish defacing or erasure in the present case. We would like to make it clear that we totally disabuse our mind of the bad antecedents of appellant Shrirang Sait and having dispassionately and objectively applied our mind into the facts of the present case relating to the charge of contravention and on con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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