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2022 (1) TMI 61 - HC - Central ExciseAbsolute confiscation - Gold - It was observed that once the Respondent made a statement on the very first date that the primary gold was a result of melting of gold ornaments belonging to the wife, notice ought to have been issued to her under Section 79 of the Act and in the absence of such notice, the gold could not be confiscated - HELD THAT:- A plain reading of the Section 79 of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968 reveals that a notice to the ‘owner’ is a mandatory requirement prior to passing an order of confiscation of gold or levying any penalty etc. - In the present case, as far as the quantity of primary gold is concerned, it has been factually determined that on the very first day of raid on the premises and his shop, the Respondent disclosed that the primary gold was obtained by melting of the gold ornaments belonging to his wife. Therefore, the officers involved in the raid were made aware that the Respondent was not claiming ownership of the primary gold but attributing it to his wife. There should have been no difficulty, therefore, for a notice to be issued under Section 79 of the Act to the wife of the Respondent on the basis of the statement made by him to the officers. For some reason, however, that was not done. Section 79 itself is categorical that irrespective of the person from whom possession of the gold is recovered, a prior notice would have to be issued to the ‘owner’ of such primary gold before proceeding further to confiscate the said primary gold. In other words, there is no explanation to the section expanding the scope of the expression ‘owner’ to include an ostensible owner or even a person from whom possession the gold or gold ornaments is recovered - the Court is unable to find any ground to interfere with the impugned order of the CEGAT declining to make a reference of the question as urged by the Petitioner to this Court. Petition dismissed.
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