9911796707
TMI Blog1997 (8) TMI 232X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oms Act, 1962. He, however, had allowed redemption of the said goods under Section 125 of the Customs Act, 1962 on payment of Rs. 5 lakh. Further, personal penalties under Section 112 were also imposed on all the present appellants in the following order :- (i) Shri Ram Kumar Agarwal - Rs. 50,000/- (ii) Shri Ashwani Poonam Chand Gandhi - Rs. 50,000/- (iii) Shri Anil Kumar Agarwal - Rs. 25,000/- (iv) Shri Suresh Jain - Rs. 25,000/- (v) Shri Bajrang Lal Agarwal - Rs. 25,000/- 2. The brief facts relating to the case are that on 25-10-1993 the Madhya Pradesh Police, Raipur seized two ingots of silver of foreign origin and 136 `Chorsas' made out of silver of foreign origin and one Maruti Car from one J ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cquired and against Shri Suresh Kumar Jain, Proprietor of Jyoti Refinery and Chemicals from where the silver was seized for abetting in the act of dealing in the illicit contraband goods, Shri Anil Kumar Agarwal for transporting the goods in the Maruti Car and against Shri Bajrang Lal Agarwal for abetting in the act of dealing in illicitly acquired silver by allowing his Maruti Car in transporting the contraband silver, and against Shri Ashwani Poonam Chand Gandhi for being in league with Shri Ram Kumar Agarwal for acting as a courier of contraband silver in transporting the same to Bombay from Raipur and for handing it over to Shri Ram Kumar Agarwal. 5. Appearing before us for the appellants Shri L. Venkataraman, ld. Counsel submitte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ia at Bombay Airport showing payment of duty in foreign currency. He also drew attention to sale declaration signed by the incoming passengers in favour of Ashwani Poonam Chand Gandhi on Stamp paper which contained the details of the quantity of silver, name and passport number of the passenger, Baggage Receipt for the duty paid on silver and the State Bank of India DDR showing payment of duty in foreign currency. Ld. Counsel submitted that Shri Ram Kumar Agarwal had produced photocopies of Baggage Receipt issued by the Bombay Airport Customs containing full details of the legal acquisition of silver of foreign origin bought from three passengers on 26-10-1993 and 22-10-1993. He submitted that the records relating to purchase of the silver ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... could not be blamed for the lapse of the Customs Authorities in not reproducing the correct markings in the relevant columns in the Baggage Receipt and for following inconsistent practices. As regards 136 chorasas also the ld. Counsel contended that the said chorasas were manufactured from other ingots bought by the appellant Shri Ram Kumar Agarwal from the passengers on the strength of the Baggage Receipts and other documents produced before the adjudicating officer. 6. Shri P.K. Jain, ld. SDR who appeared for the respondents Commissioner submitted that the explanation given on behalf of the appellants suffered from inconsistencies and the documents which had been relied upon by them show inaccuracies and deficiencies. He referred t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... egally acquired the appellants had produced three sets of documents, the photocopies of which have been taken on file. He has claimed that he had bought 5 ingots of silver from passengers coming from abroad through a broker in Bombay by name Pooran Chand Gandhi between 20-10-1993 and 22-10-1993. Shri P.C. Gandhi had bought the said ingots from three passengers on the basis of sale declarations with identical proformas giving details of the name and address of the passenger, his passport number, the quantity of silver brought, Baggage Receipt number and receipt issued by the State Bank of India evidencing payment of duty in foreign currency. Counsel for the appellant had drawn attention to the fact that duty of the two ingots under seizure t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lling up the details in the relevant columns. 10. The ld. SDR had also referred to the point made in the adjudication order that the weight of the seized ingots did not tally with the weight of the ingots mentioned in the Panchnama. On this the ld. Counsel had submitted that some part of the melted ingot used for making chorasas had got added to the other ingot while refining and that was the reason why the weight of the ingot seized did not exactly tally with the weight of the ingots mentioned in the Baggage Rules. 11. Looking to the facts and circumstances of the case and the submissions made before us, we are of the view that the charge of illicit acquisition of the seized silver has not been proved satisfactorily. Even going ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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