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1979 (12) TMI 78 - SC - CustomsWhether the High Court was in error in acquitting the appellant of the charges under Section 135(1),(a) and (b) of the Customs Act? Held that:- In the instant case, while holding that the respondent was in conscious possession of the gold bars in question, the High Court has acquitted him only on the ground that the porsecution had failed to prove that the gold in question had been imported after 1947 without the necessary permission of the Reserve Bank, or without payment of duty and that the further question as to whether the accused knew that it was smuggled gold `does not really arise'. With this reasoning the High Court acquitted the respondent on the first two charges under Section 135 of the Customs Act. The High Court overlooked several tell-tale circumstances appearing in evidence which unerringly pointed to the conclusion that the gold in question was smuggled gold. These circumstances are : (a) The gold biscuits in question bore foreign markings which proclaimed their foreign origin. (b) This gold was of 24 carat purity which was not available in India at the material time. This circumstance reinforces the inference of its being smuggled gold. (c) These gold biscuits were found concealed and stitched in the folds of a jacket specially prepared for this purpose. (d) The gold, was in the shape of gold biscuits and was of huge value, which at the then prevailing market rate, was ₹ 1,85,000. (e) After the seizure of this gold the accused absconded and continued to be a fugitive from justice till March 14, 1962. Thus the High Court was in error in acquitting the appellant of the charges under Section 135(1),(a) and (b) of the Customs Act - allow this appeal, set aside the acquittal of the accused, Natwarlal Damodardas Soni, and convict him under Section 135(1)(a) & (b)
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