9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (4) TMI 696X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , three persons including the present Appellant were apprehended by the Customs Officials at New Farakka Railway Station. When the Government Railway Protection Force (GRPF) personnel intervened in the matter, one person escaped from the spot. The GRPF personnel brought the apprehended persons including the present Appellant and Custom Official to the Farakka Police Station. Thereafter, gold bars and Appellant were handed over to the Superintendent of Customs, Malda Customs Preventive Unit, before whom, the Appellant had recorded a statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 to the effect that he was having 13 pieces of gold biscuits which were given to him by one Shri Damodar Santhalia who escaped from the Railway Station and also ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on the ground that the same was an after-thought. The contention of the Appellant was that the Appellant purchased gold from M/s. Lalji Bhai Kanji Bhai Soni, Dealer's gold and silver ornaments, Ahmedabad and the deal was made through Shri Vasant Bhai P. Pujari of Trimurti Jewellers, Kolkata. The Appellant submitted that the Adjudicating Authority in the first Adjudication Order disbelieved the statement of the Appellant and dropped the proceedings against the other two co-accused and the Revenue had not filed any appeal against the first Adjudication Order. Therefore, the statement of the Appellant cannot be relied upon. The Appellant also submitted that the first statement was recorded when the Appellant was under the Customs custody. Hen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Revenue is that the plea regarding purchase of the gold from Ahmedabad is an after-thought. 6. The Revenue also submitted that the gold was never seized by GRPF. The Appellant was apprehended by the Customs Officials on secret information at the Farakka Railway Station and GRPF Officials intervened in the matter, and the Appellant along with the co-accused were taken to the Farakka Police Station, where on the intervention of the BSF Officials and the Jurisdictional Superintendent of Customs, the matter was resolved and the statement of the Appellant was recorded and the gold was seized by the Customs Officials. It is the contention of the Revenue that the ratio of the decisions relied upon by the Appellant is not applicable to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hmedabad. It was only on 25-11-94, for the first time, the Appellant disclosed the fact that the gold in question was purchased from Ahmedabad. In his statement in the year, 2005, the authorised person of the concerned jeweller stated that the amount against purchase of the gold in question was not received by them. 8. The ratio of the decisions relied upon by the Appellant are not applicable to the facts of the present case as the Appellant claimed that the gold of foreign origin was purchased from Ahmedabad. The gold is a notified item. Under Section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962, the onus is on the claimant to show the lawful possession of the gold. In the present case, the Appellant had taken the plea that the gold has been lawfull ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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