9911796707
TMI Blog2003 (1) TMI 563X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o imposed personal penalty of Rs. 75,000/- on Appellant No. 1 and of Rs. 20,000/- on Appellant No. 2. 2. The facts of the case may briefly be stated as under - On 6-12-1995, the DRI Officials intercepted truck Bearing No. BHC-2586 when some bundles from that truck were being transferred to Maruti No. DL 3C 1336. Those bundles contained silk yarn of Chinese origin and also carried printed labels bearing description Blossoms While Steam Filature China National Silk Import and Export Corporation Made in China . The present two appellants were also present at the spot at that time along with Shri Vijay Kumar Lilha and Shri Pramod Kumar, who are not appellants in this appeal. Their statements were recorded. They could not produce any docume ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ds were not prohibited goods under Section 123 of the Customs Act. Rather the goods being OGL, were freely tradable in the market for sale and purchase and as such no presumption about the smuggled character of the goods could be drawn under Section 123 of the Customs Act. 4. On the other hand, the learned JDR, has reiterated the correctness of the impugned order and relied upon the statements made by the appellants wherein they allegedly admitted the smuggled character of the goods. 5. I have heard both sides and gone through the record. The perusal of the record shows that the disputed goods were allegedly seized by the Officials of the DRI on 6-12-1995 at 22.15 hrs. at Lahartara, Varanasi, when these were being transferred from the t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on. These witnesses has no motive to depose falsely in favour of Appellant No. 1. They were cross-examined by the adjudicating authority, but nothing was extracted from them for doubting their veracity. Therefore, the evidence of these witnesses, named above, could not be ignored especially when none of the Panchanama witnesses, in whose presence the goods were allegedly seized at Lahartara, came forward to support the plea of the Department and to establish the correctness of the Panchanama. Therefore, the version of the Appellant No. 1 about the seizure of the goods from his house by the DRI Officials on 6-12-1995 and not at Lahartara while transferring it from truck to Maruti van, as alleged by the Department, deserves to be accepted. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng the non-import of the goods from Singapore and thereafter sale of the same to M/s. Sangam Enterprises, a firm in which the wife of Appellant No. 1 was partner at that time. The purchase invoice and the other documents, referred to above, had been ignored simply on the ground that they were produced after lapse of sufficient time from the date of seizure, as is evident from the perusal of the order-in-original. But the file shows that these documents were submitted on 7-2-1996, while the goods were seized only 6-12-1995, and this fact also finds corroboration from the copy of the affidavit dated 15-12-1995 filed by Shri V.K. Singh, Investigating Officer of the case, before the Special CJM when Appellant No. 1 moved an application for bail ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 95, after his arrest. Under these circumstances, it can be safely assumed that the alleged confessional statement was never made by Appellant No. 1 voluntarily, rather it was procured under coercion and torture. Therefore, no evidential value can be attached to his that statement which even the learned Commissioner (Appeals) has not detailed in the impugned order. 10. Mere foreign origin of the goods (silk yarn) by itself is no evidence to establish the smuggled character of the goods, especially when the goods are freely available in the market and not notified/prohibited goods under Section 123 or Chapter IVA of the Act. No presumption, as observed above, regarding smuggled character of the goods could be drawn especially when Appellant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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