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TMI Blog2015 (8) TMI 436X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for short) and Section 32 of the Customs Act, 1962 on the allegations that accused Nos. 1-3 named therein had entered into a criminal conspiracy with accused No. 4 who was Appraiser of Customs, Inland Container Depot (ICD), Irugur, Coimbatore and with accused No. 5, Inspector of Customs, Inland Container Depot, Irugur, Coimbatore during 2004-2005 and in pursuance of said conspiracy had filed false and fabricated documents to claim duty drawback to the tune of Rs. 2.14 crores (approximately) from ICD, Irugur. It was alleged that said accused Nos. 1-3 had filed certain Shipping Bills and that the export documents were assessed by accused No. 4 i.e. respondent No. 1 and after such assessment the goods were examined by accused No. 5 i.e. respondent No. 2. After completion of the Customs formalities the goods were stuffed in containers which were sealed and transported to Cochin for consignment to Dubai. It was alleged that accused No. 1 produced different sets of forged shipping bills by adding a digit before the total quantity of shipment thereby inflating the value of shipment and fraudulently claimed duty drawback. These forged shipping bills were endorsed by the respondents. A cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Kumar with the connivance of A-5 Santhosh Kumar, Sr. Tax Assistant (STA) destroyed all the Shipping Bills and A-5 Santosh Kumar made corrections in the Shipping Bills Register as instructed by A-4 Arun Kumar and Shri Bindusaran." "..... In pursuance of the said criminal conspiracy A-1 Manish Kumar Jain and A-2 R.V. Shanmugam prepared two sets of Shipping Bills and GR Forms and exported some stainless steel utensils in the name of M/s. Ayyappan Industries, M/s. Shri J.S. Babu Inc. and M/s. Samy Metal Industries. In furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, A-1 Manish Kumar Jain and A-3 N. Rajan prepared the shipping bills. The documents were filed by A-1 Manish Kumar Jain and A-2 R.V. Shanmugam at ICD, Irugur with the connivance of A-4 Arun Kumar who allowed the export of less quantity and entered inflated quantity in the Shipping Bills Register in conspiracy with A-5 Santhosh Kumar, STA and also filed wrong GR Forms to RBI. But before the duty drawback was allowed, the process was stopped by the intervention of the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence and the accused persons removed/destroyed the documents available with them and tried to replace the documents with th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oners for the offence under Section 13(1)(c) or (d)." The High Court, thus accepted the submission that no case made out to frame any charges against the respondents and allowing the Revision by its judgment and order dated 22-8-2011, set aside the order dated 19-12-2008 of the Special Court. 6. The present appeal challenges the correctness of the view taken by the High Court. By way of an additional affidavit, the appellant placed on record, copies of relevant Shipping Bills and the corresponding Exchange Control declaration forms. We have heard Ms. Vibha Dutt Makhija, learned senior Counsel appearing for the appellant who invited our attention to documents on record to bring home the point about discrepancy in the total quantity of shipment and the value of shipment in two sets of documents. It was submitted that the High Court was not right and justified in observing that there was no material on record at all. Mr. B.A. Khan and Mr. Ratnakar Dash, learned senior Counsel appearing for Respondent Nos. 1 and 2, respectively supported the view taken by the High Court. It was submitted by the learned Counsel that there never existed two sets of shipping bills, that none of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... about the scope of Sections 227 and 228 of the Code, the following principles emerge : (i) The Judge while considering the question of framing the charges under Section 227 of the Cr.P.C. has the undoubted power to sift and weigh the evidence for the limited purpose of finding out whether or not a prima facie case against the accused has been made out. The test to determine prima facie case would depend upon the facts of each case. (ii) Where the materials placed before the Court disclose grave suspicion against the accused which has not been properly explained, the Court will be fully justified in framing a charge and proceeding with the trial. (iii) The Court cannot act merely as a Post Office or a mouthpiece of the prosecution but has to consider the broad probabilities of the case, the total effect of the evidence and the documents produced before the Court, any basic infirmities etc. However, at this stage, there cannot be a roving enquiry into the pros and cons of the matter and weigh the evidence as if he was conducting a trial. (iv) If on the basis of the material on record, the Co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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