2010 (7) TMI 585

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..... on 27-7-06, Bangladeshi currencies of Rs. 4,90,000.00 and Rs. 5,02,000.00 were recovered from the Appellants, S/Shri Khokan Kumar Saha and Amar Mandal. Both the Appellants made a detailed statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act, stating that they were carriers and one Shri Nemai Karmakar and another Shri Giridhari Sanyasi handed over Indian currencies and they carried the same to an appointed place and in exchange, they received the Bangladeshi currencies which were to be handed over to the persons who gave the Indian currencies. It is also submitted that they were only receiving Rs. 540.00 for this illegal act as a commission. On this, the foreign currencies were seized by the Customs Authorities and show cause notices were issued f .....

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..... persons and the same were taken to a specified place and the same were exchanged against the Bangladeshi currencies. Hence, the Appellants were liable for penalties. 6. In this case, the Appellants had not claimed the currency in question before the lower Authorities. Therefore, I find merit in the contention of the Revenue that the confiscation of the foreign currencies is not under challenge. The Appellants, S/Shri Khokan Kumar Saha and Amar Mandal from whose possession, the foreign currencies were seized, made a detailed statement regarding their role of taking the Indian currencies to a specified place and in exchange, they received the Bangladeshi currencies, and they did this illegal act on commission basis. The contention of t .....

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..... he foreign currency does not exceed US $10,000.00 or its equivalent, the declaration is not necessary. In the present case, there is no evidence that the currencies in question had been brought into India by the Appellants or any other person, through Customs barriers. The Appellants relied upon the decision of Tribunal in the case of Pukhraj Nihalchand Jain (supra), where the confiscation was set aside in view of substantial availability of foreign exchange in the country; hence the burden to prove illicit acquisition lay upon the Revenue. In the present case, the two above-named Appellants admitted that the smuggled Bangladeshi currencies were exchanged by them in lieu of Indian currencies within India and therefore, the ratio of the abov .....

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