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2015 (2) TMI 263 - HC - CustomsImposition of penalty - appellant contended that order of penalty was based entirely on his retracted confession - Seizure of goods - Unlawful import of goods - non production of relevant documents - Held that:- The orders of the Commissioner (Preventive) and the CESTAT, in our opinion, are entirely in accordance with the law declared by the Supreme Court. Both the appellant and Sanjay Maheshwari retracted their confessional statements to the customs officer. In the polyester goods case, it was found that the appellant’s confessional statement was extracted under duress, and because there was no other corroborative evidence, he was exonerated. In the Chinese silk case, which is before us, this conclusion was accepted by the Commissioner (Preventive), who then went on to examine the corroborative evidence present. One important piece of corroborative evidence was the confessional statement of Sanjay Maheshwari with respect to which, on an analysis of the facts and circumstances of the case, the Commissioner found that there was no proof of duress, and that consequently, the retraction was invalid. We find no fault with the manner in which the Commissioner appreciated the evidence before him. The appellant was permitted to cross examine Sanjay Maheshwari, which he did, extensively. In this connection, it was urged that the said individual had admitted not having met the appellant at all and consequently his deposition could hardly have implicated the former. While this is correct, yet that admission is to be viewed in the context. Sanjay Maheshwari also stated that though he had not met the appellant, he had conversed with him. Court notes that proceedings under tax legislation such as the FCRA or the Customs Act do not require the prosecution to discharge the criminal-law burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Under such proceedings, a balance of probabilities is satisfactory. - It is not the task of this Court, exercising its appellate power in cases involving substantial questions of law, to review or secondguess (or even third guess, at times) the factual findings based on evidence considered by the lower authorities, but only to correct an order if it is based on irrelevant or manifestly incorrect construction of the facts or if based on mis-appreciation of law or on non-application of mind. In the present case, this Court sees no reason to interfere with the concurrent findings of the Commissioner (Preventive) and the CESTAT which are both reasoned, correctly stating the law, and citing relevant evidence and reasoning in order to arrive at their conclusions. - Decided against Assessee.
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