Court grants redemption, fines, bank guarantees, and releases goods pending appeal.

The court allowed the application, directing the payment of a redemption fine of 10% of the goods' value, 1% of the penalty amount, and the furnishing of bank guarantees of Rs. 50 lakhs each. The court ordered the release of confiscated goods within two weeks upon meeting these conditions and stayed the penalties until the appeal's conclusion, providing interim relief to the applicants.

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Issues:
Release of confiscated gold bars, diamonds, and jewelry; Stay of recovery of penalties during tax appeal.

Analysis:
The applicant sought release of confiscated gold bars, diamonds, and jewelry belonging to a company, along with a stay on penalties imposed during a tax appeal. The original appellants challenged an order confiscating goods valued at Rs. 2,70,12,710 and Rs. 3,20,96,437 under specific sections of the Customs Act, 1962. The Tribunal dismissed their appeals and ordered redemption fines equal to 50% of the goods' value. The applicants argued that the case did not fall under the mentioned sections and cited a precedent where a redemption fine was set at 6% of the confiscated goods' value. They requested release based on similar terms. The respondents highlighted a case where the court directed a bank guarantee in addition to the redemption fine. The court noted similarities between the cases and decided to release the goods under specific conditions.

The court found that the applicants could not claim complete parity with the precedent case as they were the appellants. However, considering the prima facie case made out in their appeal, the court directed the payment of a redemption fine of 10% of the goods' value, 1% of the penalty amount, and the furnishing of bank guarantees of Rs. 50 lakhs each to be kept alive till the appeal's final disposal. The court ordered the release of confiscated goods within two weeks of meeting these conditions and stayed the penalties until the appeal's conclusion. The application was allowed accordingly, providing interim relief to the applicants.

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