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TMI Blog2012 (3) TMI 70X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... persons. 2. The above named petitioners are accused no.3, 4 and 6 respectively in the abovementioned complaint under Sections 132, 135 of the Customs Act, herein after referred to as 'Act'. Petitioner no. 1 is the Director of M/s Seasky Cargo & Travels P. Ltd. Petitioner no.2 is the Director of M/s Borneo Shipping Lines Ltd. and petitioner no.3 is the Chairman of M/s United Liner Agencies Pvt. Ltd. The allegations against the petitioners are that they have assisted accused no. 1 Rajeev Verma (proprietor of M/s Lindt. Exports and M/s High Tech Engineers) and accused no.2 Rajesh Verma (brother of Rajeev Verma) in fraudulently availing duty drawback to the tune of Rs.20,90,13,652/-by issuing Bills of Lading much after date of shipment of good ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cause notice vide order dated 31.5.2006 and confirmed the entire demand of duty drawback of Rs.20,90,13,652/- and imposed penalties of Rs. 50 lakhs and 10 lakhs upon accused no. 1 and 2 respectively and Rs. 2 lakhs each on the shipping lines i.e M/s Seasky Cargo & Travels P. Ltd.,M/s Borneo Shipping Lines Ltd. and M/s United Liner Agencies Pvt. Ltd. 5. The learned counsels for the petitioners have assailed the summoning order against them by raising similar pleas that the summoning order is bad in law and the material filed with the compliant fails to make out any case against them. It is also submitted that there is no specific allegation against the petitioners in the complaint and no role has been assigned to them. It is further submitt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... material. Of course, no hard and fast rule can be laid down in regard to cases in which this Court will exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction of quashing the proceeding at any stage. It would not be proper to analyse the case of the complainant in the light of all probabilities in order to determine whether a conviction would be sustainable and on such premises arrive at a conclusion that the proceedings are to be quashed. 9. It is settled that it would be erroneous to assess the material and conclude that the complaint cannot be proceeded with. In a proceeding instituted on complaint, exercise of the inherent powers to quash the proceedings is called for only in a case where the complaint does not disclose any offence or is frivo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .- If on consideration of the allegations in the light of the statement made on oath of the complainant it appears that the ingredients of the offence or offences are disclosed and there is no material to show that the complaint is mala fide, frivolous or vexatious, the proceedings cannot be quashed". 11. In Madhavrao Jiwali Rao Scindia and others v Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre and others [1988 Crl.L.J. 853], this Court has reiterated the same principle and laid down that when a prosecution at the initial stage is asked to be quashed, the test to be applied by the court is as to whether the uncontroverted allegations as made prima facie establish the offence. Again in the case of State of Bihar v Murad Ali Khan and others [1989 Crl.LJ 10 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . 1 was also instrumental in exporting goods prior to opening of LC or registration of CL with RBI. Accused no. 1 got released the Bills of Lading much after the date of shipment to hoodwink the Banks so that the documents could be negotiated in the Bank, as Banks were considering the date of Bills of Lading as date of shipment for negotiating the documents . Prima facie the dates on the documents were altered by none other than the petitioners. From all this it cannot be said that the petitioners had no knowledge of the fraud being committed by the accused no. 1 and 2, and they were not at fault. This conduct of the petitioners shows that they were actively involved with the accused persons. Moreover, the ingredients of knowledge and inten ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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