9911796707
TMI Blog2014 (5) TMI 201X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... train coming from Guwahati. It is seen that there were total 285 bags of betel nut booked by M/s. Keon Trading Company which is a proprietary unit of Shri Krishna Das. The said consignment was booked through railway lease holder M/s. Shree Global Cargo where Shri Krishna Das is also one of the partner. The consignee of the goods was shown as one M/s. Ganapati Traders. 3. A sample of betel nut was drawn and an expert opinion of one Shri Anand Aggrawal of M/s. Wazirganj Ward Upbhogata Sahakari Samiti Ltd. was obtained. As per the opinion of Shri Anand Agarwal, betel nuts were split and coloured to camouflage their origin, but out of his experience he opined that betel nuts were not of Indian or Nepali origin and same appeared to be of Indon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from Guwahati to Delhi. The said consignment was intercepted by DRI Officers at Kanpur on 23.9.2010. Surprisingly only 86 bags were offloaded and were subsequently seized and confiscated. As per the appellants, the balance 199 bags, though were of the same consignment were examined by the DRI at the Delhi Railway station arrived at Delhi in the same train and nothing objectionable were found and handed over to the authorised representative of the M;/s. Keon Trading Company. In any case, and in any view of the matter, it is seen that foreign origin of betel nut stand established by the Revenue on the basis of so called expert opinion of Shri Anand Agarwal . The said person has given his opinion about the foreign origin of the goods on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... places in between. 8. Apart from the fact that there is no evidence on record to show that the foreign origin of the goods, I also note that the betel nuts are neither notified under Chapter IV of the Customs Act nor under section 123 of the Act. As such, the onus to prove that the same have been smuggled lies very heavily upon the Revenue and is required to be discharged by producing sufficient positive and tangible evidence. The Revenue in the present case apart from relying upon so called expert opinion as regards the foreign origin of the goods have not produced any evidence to establish the smuggled nature of the goods. It is not the case of the Revenue that betel nuts of foreign origin are not legally imported into India and the sam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Assam State Agriculture Marketing Board, rejection of the same on the sole ground that appellants have not maintained any accounts and held the said documents to be fake, is not proper on the part of the Commissioner (Appeals).
10. As such, in the absence of any evidence to first establish the foreign origin of the goods and secondly the smuggled nature of betel nuts and thirdly the rejection of purchase documents by the lower authorities, I find no justifiable reason to confiscate the betel nut in question or to impose penalties on the appellants. Accordingly, the impugned order are set aside and all the appeals are allowed with consequential relief to the appellants.
(operative part of the order pronounced in the open court) X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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