9911796707
TMI Blog2000 (1) TMI 300X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Department. 2.1 Brief facts are:- Officers of DRI, Lucknow intercepted a mini truck near Kanpur after a hot chase in the early hours of 13-4-1997. 50 bags of Gambier, alleged to be foreign origin and weighing 1750 kgs. valued at Rs. 3.5 lakhs were recovered from the said mini truck. The driver of the vehicle, Shri Mohd. Alam in his statement admitted that the said Gambier was carried over from another vehicle and the goods were smuggled and brought from Nepal by another truck and the 50 bags were off loaded at Nayaganj, Kanpur and later on were loaded on his mini truck for carrying them to Rania near Kanpur. He also stated that the goods belonged to one Shri Salam of Kanpur; that he worked for Bharat Jaiswal, the owner of the truck; th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... contended that one of the grounds on which the Commissioner (Appeals) has allowed the appeals filed by the various noticees is that the driver in his statement had stated that after transferring the goods from another truck to his mini truck, he had started the journey for destination namely, M/s. Kanchan Udyog at 01.00 hrs. on 13-4-1997. In the Panchnama the time of interception has been given as 02.00 hrs. However, the fortnightly diary maintained by the Forest Range Office, produced by the noticee had shown that the said mini truck loaded with Gambier had checked at Bhauti Barrier at 21.00 hrs. on 12-4-1997 which showed that the said truck had left its point of origin before 21.00 hrs. on 12-4-1997. The Commissioner (Appeals) had observ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. This would be all the more evident since no register regarding the said transactions have been maintained by M/s. V.G. Sales, the purported purchaser of the goods from M/s. Biharilal. The Department has questioned findings of the Commissioner (Appeals) about the lack of authenticity of the statement given by the driver, Shri Mohd. Alam. 4. Opposing the submissions of the JDR, ld. Counsel for the Respondents, Shri K.K. Anand, draws attention to the discussions and findings in paras 6 to 12 of the Order of the Commissioner (Appeals) which has dealt with each of the points mentioned in the Grounds of Appeal filed by the Commissioner. As regards the statement given by the driver, Shri Mohd. Alam to the effect that Shri Bharat Jaiswal, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y to M/s. Kanchan Udyog. The transactions had been corroborated by both M/s. V.G. Sales and M/s. Kanchan Udyog. Further, there was also no warrant for imposing penalty on the owner of the mini truck, M/s. Bharat Jaiswal. In these circumstances, the Advocate for the Respondents prayed for upholding of the impugned older and the dismissal of the Revenue Appeals. 5. I have considered the submissions and have perused the records. I find that as regards the alleged contravention of Notification No. 996 dated 22-1-1996, M/s. V.G. Sales, one of the appellants before me, had produced evidence by way of challan No. 3377, dated 12-4-1997 issued to M/s. Kanchan Udyog, the other appellant. M/s. V.G. Sales had further claimed that the Lotus Brand Gamb ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssioner (Appeals). Further, I also agree with the submission of ld. Counsel for appellants that the mere uncorroborated statement of the driver, who is also a co-noticee, cannot be made the basis for imposing penal liability of another noticee. I also find that appellants have brought on record sufficient material in support of their claim that the seized Gambier was part of the goods imported from Indonesia under proper and valid duty paying documents. Department has not been able to bring any material on record to controvert the same. 6. In the light of the above discussion, I am of the view that the impugned order calls for no interference. The four Appeals filed by the Department are accordingly rejected. - - TaxTMI - TMITax - Cus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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