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2019 (9) TMI 247 - AT - CustomsSource of Gold bars of foreign origin - Received under Will - appellants contention is that Will does not require any registration under the Registration Act and the same was Notarized as is clear from the stamp of the Notary Public, who is an officer of the court - absolute confiscation - conversion of absolute confiscation into option of redemption. HELD THAT:- No doubt that gold is specified item in terms of the provisions of section 123 of the Customs Act and the onus to prove that the foreign origin gold, found in possession of any person, was legally imported by them is on the possessor. In the present case, the appellants have contended that the gold bars in question were possessed by them as a result of execution of the Will by her grandmother, after her death in the year 2010. Revenue has tried to find some holes in the said Will to discard the same and to cast the onus on the appellants to prove the licit receipt of the gold bars - No investigations, no enquiries stand made from the Notary, who Notarized the Will or from the office of the District Magistrate, where the same was probated. As such, the Revenue’s endeavor to discard the said Will without the production of any evidence to establish the same as a fraudulent document, cannot be appreciated. There was no requirement to amend the specifications of the gold bar in the old Will inasmuch as no specifications, in any case, were mentioned in the original Will - apart from the said gold bars, Revenue has not found any other gold bars from the possession of the appellant. If the gold bars mentioned in the Will of Smt.Dadan Devi were not the one which stand seized and confiscated by the officers, then the authorities would have found another set of three gold bars from the appellants’ possession. The gold in question were possessed by the appellants as a result of the legacy transferred to the appellants by Smt.Disha Tulsiani’s grandmother through her Will, it cannot be held that the goods in question were smuggled items. In such a scenario, the confiscation of the same or imposition of penalties upon the appellants cannot be held to be sustainable. The Revenue’s appeals which are only against conversion of absolute confiscation into option of redemption, no longer survives - Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
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