1998 (11) TMI 242

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..... er : Gowri Shankar, Member (T)]. The appellant is the owner of a fishing trawler Jal Pari. The appellant had leased out this trawler in April, 1990 to Issaq Kassam, who is shown in the hire agreement as a resident of Okha Beyt in Gujarat. This trawler was found sunk and abandoned in the Tivrem river in south Goa by the Customs Department in May, 1991. At about the same time the department fo .....

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..... ties and confiscation of the silver and the van and of Jal Pari under Section 115 of the Act. The Collector passed an order imposing penalties and ordering confiscation of Jal Pari with an option to redeem it on payment of fine. This appeal is against that confiscation of the vessel. 2. Advocate for the appellant contends that it has not been established by the Collector that Jal Pari was, in f .....

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..... fitted with Kirloskar engine when it was let by Issaq Kassam, and that it contained empty barrels with markings of United Arab Emirates, and the fact that enquiries by the appellant, even prior to the landing showed that Issaq Kassam, who had not paid rent of the craft for few months and was missing at Okha and the appellant was told that he had gone to United Arab Emirates. All these taken togeth .....

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..... erem and Marcel on the bank of river Tivrem where it was found. The map produced by the advocate is a tourist map and does not show either river Tivrem or Marcel. In our view, the evidence is insufficient to hold that the craft was used to smuggle the goods. It is not even certain that Issaq Kassam was on board the craft or had even gone to Dubai. The fact that he was absconding and said to have g .....

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..... be deducted. We are unable to see any significance in this argument. Diesel engines were not notified under Section 123 of the Act and there is nothing to show that the engine in question had been imported into India without payment of duty. Further, when the goods itself are not available for redemption, it is difficult to see how question of paying duty on the goods arises particularly when the .....

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