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2023 (2) TMI 401 - HC - CustomsEvasion of custom duty - whether the Customs Act prohibits the criminal prosecution under the IPC - Forging the shipping bills and submitting bogus sipping bills with criminal conspiracy - involvement of certain racketeers in misuse of Duty Exemption Pass Book (DEPB) and Duty Exemption Entitlement Certificate (DEEC) Scheme by using forged shipping bills in the name of fictitious as well as existing firms for obtaining DEPBs or for fulfilling export obligation against DEEC Licenses - Offence under Sections 132, 133, 134, 135 and 135A of the Customs Act - HELD THAT:- The primary allegation is of forging the shipping bills and causing loss to the tune of Rs.17 Crores of custom duty to the Government of India. Forging of document and cheating etc. are not the offences which are defined under the Customs Act. The judgement relied upon by the learned counsel for the petitioner in Union of India Vs. Ashok Kumar Sharma and others [2020 (8) TMI 827 - SUPREME COURT] has no relevance to the facts of the present case as in that case the offence is squarely covered within the ambit of the special statute such as Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The investigating agency or the police would have jurisdiction to investigate the offence committed under the IPC. There may be some overlapping of two statues regarding the offence committed under IPC as well as under the Customs Act, but that would not preclude the registration of the FIR, investigating the offence and taking cognizance and summoning an accused, if after investigation it has been found that such an accused has committed the offence under the IPC besides the Customs Act. There are no merit in the present petition - petition dismissed.
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