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1964 (11) TMI 3 - SC - CustomsWhether the appellant was concerned in committing the offence of importing gold illegally ? Held that:- Mere finding of fact that a person is in possession of smuggled goods does neither imply that the Collector of Customs had considered the question of the person's being concerned in the commission of the offence of illegal importation of the goods nor in any way justifies the conclusion that the person must have been so concerned. Other circumstances indicating that the person had some connection with the importation of the goods prior to their actual import have to be established. In the present case no such circumstances have been alleged which would connect the appellant with the importing of the smuggled gold recovered from his person. There is no mention of any such circumstances in the order of the Collector or even in the reply affidavit filed in the High Court by the Assistant Collector of Central Excise and Land Customs, New Delhi, though the appellant had said in ground No. C of the writ petition that there was absolutely no material before respondent No. 3 on which he could have come to a finding that the petitioner had imported the said gold. We may also mention here that there is no allegation that the appellant himself smuggled the gold from outside the country. We do not agree with the High Court that it was implicit in this order that the Collector was fully satisfied that Shri Jagdish Singh was concerned in the offence described in S. 167(8) of the Act. Appeal allowed.
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