TMI Blog2004 (9) TMI 453X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sing of ball bearings; that the Customs officers seized old and used ball bearings of different sizes from their premises on 7-9-1999; that the Joint Commissioner under Order-in-Original No. 20/2000 had confiscated the seized ball bearing with an option to redeem the same on payment of a fine of Rs. 1,20,000/- and on payment of appropriate Customs duty besides imposing a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh on the ground that the Appellants could not produce any evidence for lawful import/acquisition/storage of ball bearings in question; that the Commissioner (Appeals) also under the impugned Order rejected their appeal on the ground that no bill or other document was produced to show the legal procurement/possession of the goods. The learned Advocate, fu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods have not been notified under Section 123 of the Customs Act the burden to prove their smuggled nature is on the Department. Reliance has also been placed on the decision in the case of Shri Irfan Mohd. Ors. v. C.C., New Delhi, Final Order No. A/1028-29/98-NB (DB), dated 20-11-1998 and Sha Rikhabdas Ghaganra v. CCE, Madras - AIR 1963 MADRAS 337. 3. Countering the arguments Shri S.M. Tata, learned SDR, submitted that in all 4711 pieces of ball bearings of foreign origin were recovered from the godown of the Appellants; that as the Proprietor of the Appellant firm gave satisfactory evidence of 111 pieces of ball bearings the same were released; that the Proprietor could not produce any evidence for the remaining 4600 pieces of ball ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sides. It is settled law that in a case of prosecution the burden of proof is on the prosecutor. In the present case the Revenue has seized the ball bearings of foreign origin from the premises of the Appellants. The initial burden is on the Department to prove that the ball bearings in question were smuggled into the country. Nothing has been brought on record by the Revenue to prove that the ball bearings in question are of smuggled nature. The initial burden has to be discharged by the Revenue to prove the smuggled nature of the impugned goods. Only when the Revenue discharges its burden of proving the smuggled nature of the impugned goods the burden will shift to the Appellants to prove that they are not smuggled goods. The mere fact th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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