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TMI Blog2024 (9) TMI 1434X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or suppressing anything and seek an appropriate relief. If there is no candid disclosure petitioner is guilty of misleading the Court and his petition should be dismissed at the threshold without considering the merits of the claim. Petitioner having made false averments in the petition that it was a registered partnership firm and reiterating the same during the course of arguments and that also in response to a specific query raised on by the court, in our view, has abused the process of law. The petitioner is not entitled to the extraordinary, equitable and discretionary reliefs - petition dismissed. - K.R. SHRIRAM JITENDRA JAIN, JJ. For the Petitioner : Mr. Brijesh Pathak. For the Respondents : Mr. Siddharth Chandrashekhar a/w Ms. Sangeeta Yadav and Mr. Umesh Gupta. P.C. : 1. Issue raised in the matter, particularly, is whether the goods imported fall under category of silver jewellery which is freely importable or under restricted category of ITC (HS) Code 71069210. 2. According to petitioner, it is a jewellery and in a worst case scenario can be called semi-finished jewellery, both of which are importable free. According to revenue, these goods are crude rounded structure m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as on that date, the option under said sub-section may be exercised within a period of one hundred and twenty days from the date on which such assent is received. 5. Therefore under sub-section (1) of Section 125, whenever confiscation of any goods is authorised by this Act, the officer adjudging it may, in the case of any goods, the importation or exportation whereof is prohibited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force, and shall, in the case of any other goods, give to the owner of the goods, an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as the said officer thinks fit. 6. The second proviso indicates how much fine could be levied and it says that such fine shall not exceed the market price of the goods confiscated, less in the case of imported goods the duty chargeable thereon. Ofcourse, under sub-section (2), there is power to levy duty and charges payable on such goods. 7. Respondent rely upon an examination report dated 5th June 2024 to suggest that the goods are crude rounded structure made of embossed silver strips which are joined together to make it look like a bangle. We should note that the author of the report has even put a disclaimer i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ak that the documents have not been submitted (except Aadhar Card Copies) and requested him to submit soon so that the order could be signed. 16. Today at 2.45 p.m., Mr. Pathak mentioned the matter and made an attempt to suggest that perhaps there was a misunderstanding because petitioner is actually registered with the GST authorities and Income Tax Authorities and petitioner is not a firm registered under the Partnership Act, 1932. We do not accept Mr. Pathak s explanation because he had very categorically informed us, in response to our specific query that it was a registered Partnership Firm and even showed the averment in the petition. He had also agreed to provide the Registration number. Moreover, in the cause title of the petition it is stated, registered partnership firm having office at .. and in paragraph 1 of the petition it is averred that petitioner is a registered partnership firm carrying on business of trading and manufacturing of jewellery made from precious metals. Petitioner has obtained statutory registration for the purposes of carrying out and conducting its business . Therefore, it is quite clear that petitioner has made an incorrect statement in the petitio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the court proceedings. 2. In the last 40 years, a new creed of litigants has cropped up. Those who belong to this creed do not have any respect for truth. They shamelessly resort to falsehood and unethical means for achieving their goals. In order to meet the challenge posed by this new creed of litigants, the courts have, from time to time, evolved new rules and it is now well established that a litigant, who attempts to pollute the stream of justice or who touches the pure fountain of justice with tainted hands, is not entitled to any relief, interim or final. 11. The Apex Court and this Court have, on many occasions, stated that if a party comes to the Court with unclean hands, which in this case the petitioner has, the party should be dealt with very strongly and substantial costs also should be imposed on the party. The conduct of petitioner in suppressing a material fact intends to impede and prejudice the administration of justice. Judiciary is the bedrock and handmaid of orderly life and civilized society. In Sciemed Overseas Inc. V/s. BOC India Ltd. 2016 ALL SCR 370 the Apex Court has lamented about the unhealthy trend in filing of affidavits which are not truthful. Pa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... S.C.R. 743 reiterated the principle that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 and of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution is extraordinary, equitable and discretionary and it is imperative that the petitioner approaching the Writ Court must come with clean hands and put forward all the facts before the Court without concealing or suppressing anything and seek an appropriate relief. Paragraphs 42 to 43.4 are as follows: 42. It is trite that fraud vitiates everything. It is a settled proposition of law that fraud avoids all judicial acts. In S.P. Chengalvaraya Naidu vs. Jagannath (Dead) through LRs, (1994) 1 SCC 1 ( S.P. Chengalvaraya Naidu ), it has been observed that fraud avoids all judicial acts, ecclesiastical or temporal. Further, no judgment of a court, no order of a minister would be allowed to stand if it has been obtained by fraud. Fraud unravels everything vide Lazarus Estates Ltd. vs. Beasley, (1956) 1 ALL ER 341 ( Lazarus Estates Ltd. ). 43. It is well-settled that writ jurisdiction is discretionary in nature and that the discretion must be exercised equitably for promotion of good faith vide State of Maharashtra vs. Prabhu, (1994) 2 SC ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en if they are against him. He cannot be allowed to play hide and seek or to pick and choose the facts he likes to disclose and to suppress (keep back) or not to disclose (conceal) other facts. The very basis of the writ jurisdiction rests in disclosure of true and complete (correct) facts. If material facts are suppressed or distorted, the very functioning of writ courts and exercise would become impossible. The Petitioner must disclose all the facts having a bearing on the relief sought without any qualification. This is because the court knows law but not facts . 39. Suppression or concealment of material facts is not an advocacy. It is a jugglery, manipulation, maneuvering or misrepresentation, which has no place in equitable and prerogative jurisdiction. If the applicant does not disclose all the material facts fairly and truly but states them in a distorted manner and misleads the court, the court has inherent power in order to protect itself and to prevent an abuse of its process to discharge the Rule nisi and refuse to proceed further with the examination of the case on merits. If the court does not reject the petition on that ground, the court would be failing in its duty. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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