9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (8) TMI 506X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (without any option of redemption) of 20 bars of gold weighing 2333 grams and 116 bars (chorsas) of silver weighing 128.602 kgs under clause (d) of Section 111 of the Act and of currency of Rs. 56,450/- under Section 121. He has also imposed penalties of Rs. 2.50 lacs each on Sagarmal Jain, Nanalal Jain, the two partners of Shah KP Co. The gold, silver and currency were seized from the premises of the partnership firm Shah KP Co. 2. We shall deal with each of these issues separately. The gold and silver were seized at the premises of the partnership firm during a search by the officers of Customs. Show cause notices were issued proposing confiscation of gold and silver on the ground that they were smuggled and that the burden of prov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 993. Sagarmal Jain could not produce evidence at that time of lawful importation of the goods. He did not name Aboobakar as the purchaser. Nor was he able to show any entries in his account books relating payment for the gold. Nanalal Jain, the other partner also professed ignorance of this gold. The initial conduct of these two appellants, therefore, does not lead one to conclude that the gold was acquired by the partnership firm from Aboobakar. This person enters the scene only on 2-9-1993 more than two weeks after the seizure. The failure of Sagarmal Jain to produce evidence of lawful importation of the gold, or of its being given for sale by Aboobakar initially is significant. He is not able to explain why he did not do so. Let us assum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e to tell us why such an option should not be given. 5. We next turn to silver. Here again it is the statements of persons concerned which had weighed the Collector in ordering the confiscation. Sagarmal Jain had said that 116 silver chorsas were manufactured out of silver bricks smuggled into India. Now silver is not notified under Section 123 of the Act. The question now would be whether Sagarmal Jain s statement and the attendants of his statements. The silver bullion is notified under Section 123 of the Act. The goods are described as chorsas which were explained to us as small slabs of silver obtained from silver slabs which is less than the weight of ingots. The Collector has applied the provisions of Section 123 of the Act to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in both of them are partners of the firm. The Collector does not indicate any reason for imposition of penalty on Nanalal Jain. Nanalal Jain was not present when the officers came to the shop. What was seized from his house was only the four cut pieces of gold and currency amounting to Rs. 56,450/-, both of which have been ordered to be released by the Collector. Nanalal Jain has disclaimed any knowledge of the gold or silver seized from the shop, attributing the dealings in them to Sagarmal Jain, the other partner. There is no specific material in the Collector s order for imposition of penalty on Nanalal Jain. He appears to have imposed a penalty on him only for the reason that he was a partner in the firm. This fact alone is insufficient ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ken the effect the note of the evidence of three witnesses who trade in silver that these goods cannot be considered to be bullion and also referred to the production of such articles before the Court. The decision, therefore, is limited to the articles in question and would not help in deciding whether the chorsas are bullion or runs the fact that there is a reference to chorsas having been obtained by melting the silver in the Collector s order is again of no assistance. It is possible that the chorsas were imported as such. The chorsas were stated to be block of silver smaller than ingots or large bars. This is undoubtedly rather incomplete description. We are however not able to say on the basis of this submission that the chor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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