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TMI Blog2019 (2) TMI 2031X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... reason for seeking the said relief are that: i) his company M/s. Stella Industries, has been issued a notice; ii) the entire management of the company has been appearing before respondent no. 3 for the past many months; iii) in one of the recent interactions, one of the employees of the company was made to take off his shirt leading to his utter humiliation and; iv) there are other allegations of high handedness by the investigating agency. The petitioner is ready and willing to join investigations in compliance of the order of a Division Bench of this Court in W.P. (Crl.) 270/2018. The petitioner relies upon the dicta of the Supreme Court in (i) D.K. Basu Vs. State of W.B., (1997) 1 SCC 416; (ii) Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . But that cannot be a ground for holding that he has a constitutional right to claim similar luxuries and company of his choice. Mr Salve was fair enough not to pursue his argument with reference to the comfort part, but continued to maintain that the appellant is entitled to the company of his choice during the questioning. The purpose of the enquiry under the Customs Act and the other similar statutes will be completely frustrated if the whims of the persons in possession of useful information for the departments are allowed to prevail. For achieving the object of such an enquiry if the appropriate authorities be of the view that such persons should be dissociated from the atmosphere and the company of persons who provide encouragement t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this stage refer to another decision of this Court in D.K. Basu v State of West Bengal (1997) 1 SCC 416. In this case, the Court, extensively considered the issues of arrest or detention in the backdrop of Articles 21, 22 and 32 of the Constitution and made a number of directions to be followed as preventive measures in all cases of arrest or detention till legal provisions are made in that behalf. The direction at serial number 10 in paragraph 35 is as follows: "(10). The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation." 28. Strictly speaking the aforesaid direction does not apply to the case of the respondent, because he being on bail cannot be described as an arrestee. But ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ir counsel would in any manner violate any of their fundamental rights. On the contrary, if the kind of allegations which the petitioners have made against the DRI officials are accepted on their mere ipse dixit and all the statements of this nature are generally ordered to be recorded in the presence of their advocate, the purpose of enquiry under the Customs Act and the other enactments of similar nature may be defeated. If the DRI authorities in the present case have identified many such dubious transactions, they have legitimate right to question such importers and persons associated with them in isolation and not necessarily in the company of their counsel. Such act on the part of DRI cannot be held to be violative of Article 20(3), 21 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... stion arising in the said case before their Lordships was the stand taken by the petitioners that they were entitled to the presence of their lawyers when they were being questioned during the interrogation under the provisions of the customs Act, 1962, or the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. Their Lordships had noticed the difference of opinion of different High Courts in this connection and had rejected the submission made on behalf of the petitioners therein, that they were entitled to have lawyers present at the time of interrogation. Such prayer, therefore, was disallowed. Mr. Malhotra has also drawn our attention to the decision in Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence v. Judgal Kishore Samra (2011) 12 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d, the order that has been sought, as passed in various matters, does not contemplate such an eventuality. In fact, in terms of the orders which we have earlier passed, a lawyer has no role to play whatsoever during the interrogation, expect to be at a distance beyond hearing range to ensure that no coercive methods were used during the interrogation. Accordingly, we allow the criminal miscellaneous petition and direct that the petitioners" advocate should be allowed to be present during the interrogation of the petitioners but that he should be made to sit at a distance beyond hearing range, but within visible range and the lawyer must be prepared to be present whenever the petitioners are called upon to attend such interrogation." Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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