9911796707
TMI Blog2010 (5) TMI 427X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Pal Singh Shergill, who was Pilot/Captain of Air India, was apprehended. On that day, he was assigned the duty of operating Air India Flight No.A1 670, from Mumbai to Trivandrum-Doha-Bahrain and was the Commander of the Air Craft. Having completed all the codal formalities and during the course of personal search, the currency of 61,000 US $ equivalent to India Rs.25,37,000/- was recovered in a black coloured cloth belt tied around his waist beneath the trousers, beyond the declaration made by him in this respect. Apart from it, US $ 5217 equivalent to Indian currency of Rs.2,17,027/- were also recovered from his Alba brand wallet. Thus, in all US $ 66217 equivalent to Indian currency of Rs.27,54,627/- were recovered. The petitioner had no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ations of the provisions of the Act. 4. Therefore, the notice dated 22/27.1.1999 (Annexure P7), containing the detailed description of the material, was issued to all the offenders, including the petitioner to show cause as to why the said foreign currency i.e. US $ 66,217/-equivalent to Indian currency of Rs.27,54,627/-, the recovered articles and car bearing registration No.NIN-4518 used for carrying and smuggling of foreign currency, be not confiscated under sections 113 (d), (e) and (h) of the Act read with sections 13(2) and 67 of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, sections 115, 118 and 119 of the Act and penalty be not imposed under section 114 of the Act. 5. In the wake of notice (Annexure P7), the petitioner submitted his inte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nders in this connection. 8. Aggrieved by the impugned order (Annexure P11), the petitioner filed the appeal. The customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, while reducing the quantum of penalty from Rs.10 lacs to Rs.5 lacs, dismissed his appeal, vide order dated 2.6.2003 (Annexure P14), the operative part of which is as under:- "The case involves attempt to smuggle over US $ 61000 out of India in a cleverly concealed manner. The appellant also was deliberately misusing his privileged position as a Pilot of the national carrier to commit the offence. In such a case imposition of penalty is fully justified. However, taking to account the fact the currency did not belong to him and he was only carrying it out of the country on b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 13. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having gone through the record with their valuable help, we are of the considered opinion that there is no merit in controversy raised in the present reference petition in this relevant direction. 14. The main celebrated argument of the learned counsel that as full opportunity of hearing was not afforded to the petitioner before passing the confiscation order by the Adjudicating Authority, therefore, the same is vitiated, is not only devoid of merits but misplaced as well. In the present case, the currency and articles were confiscated and penalty was imposed under the Act. Section 124 of the Act postulates that "no order confiscating any goods or imposing any penalty on any person ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e contrary, only legal requirement was to give him a show cause notice to enable him to file representation and opportunity of being heard as contemplated under section 124 of the Act. The mere fact of filing a long list of 14 witnesses for cross-examination by the petitioner in his reply itself is sufficient to prove that from the very beginning, he intended and considerably delayed the disposal of the matter. 18. Not only that, a perusal of the order (Annexure P11) of the Adjudicating Authority as reproduced above, would reveal that various dates were given to the petitioner for personal hearing and various witnesses had been examined by the Advocate, but final reply was not filed by the petitioner. Personal hearing memos were sent to th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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