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2018 (3) TMI 286 - HC - CustomsReward scheme - reward for disclosed vital information about evasion of tax / public revenue - the grievance of the petitioner is that his reward which was allegedly due and payable is withheld on untenable grounds - Held that: - the petitioner claims that a case has been booked on the basis of specific and elaborate information provided by him but the amount of deposit is just a peanut. The tax evader should have deposited much more and the petitioner hopes that the investigation has not missed out anything. Then he says that he is entitled to an advance reward but he will forward further emails to DRI to fetch more revenue in this case. In the case at hand there is a dispute as to whether the department indeed relied on the information or the details provided by the petitioner. It specifically denies that it has so relied on the same. It says that it has its own sources to obtain information and its own intelligence generated led to investigations being carried out much prior to the petitioner coming on the scene. The petitioner came on the scene on January 2015 and the department claims to have obtained the information in April 2014 and in relation to certain transactions by the courier mode. Thus the petitioner has occasion of obtaining these details of the information collected and generated by the department from his own sources and encashing upon the same. The petitioner is accused of having relied on this very piece of information available with the department but without its details and he commenced correspondence in January 2015. He commenced correspondence about those cases which were already under the scanner of the department. The department had an in-house investigation mechanism and which it resorted to. It did not rely on the information made available by the petitioner. The petitioner's emails did not gave the details as were necessary and that is why the respondents have raised a dispute on the petitioner's right or entitlement to reward. Even the initial entitlement or an advance reward is disputed and that was not granted. The petitioner relies upon his e-mails but conveniently omits to give details of how the proceedings ended. The petitioner claims that it was his information which led to the investigations but the department says otherwise. From inception therefore there is a clear factual dispute The petitioner's entitlement being not consistent with the policy or guidelines as noted by the Revenue, in writ jurisdiction we are not inclined to consider it - petition dismissed.
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