Gold biscuits seized from bus conductor not penalized under Customs Act & FERA Act; Tribunal rules out penalty imposition

Customs Officers seized gold biscuits from a bus conductor, leading to their confiscation under the Customs Act and FERA Act. The carrier, who claimed ignorance of the contents, was not penalized initially. The Commissioner later sought to impose a penalty, but the Tribunal dismissed the application. The Tribunal found the carrier lacked the necessary knowledge or belief about the smuggled nature of the goods, thus ruling out penalty imposition under Section 112(b) of the Customs Act. The appeal was dismissed, emphasizing the importance of proving the carrier's awareness to justify penalties.

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Issues:
1. Seizure and confiscation of gold biscuits by Customs Officers.
2. Imposition of penalty on the carrier of the seized gold.

Analysis:
1. The case involved the interception of a bus by Customs Officers, leading to the discovery of gold biscuits in the possession of the conductor. The gold biscuits were found to be of foreign origin and were seized by the Customs Officers as they were believed to be liable for confiscation under the Customs Act, 1962 and FERA Act, 1973. The respondent, who was the carrier of the gold, admitted to receiving the packet from another individual without knowledge of its contents and was promised payment for delivering it to a specific person. The Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) ordered the absolute confiscation of the gold but did not impose any penalty on the respondent, considering him only a carrier.

2. Subsequently, the Commissioner filed an application before the Tribunal seeking the imposition of a personal penalty on the respondent under Section 129D of the Customs Act. The issue before the Tribunal was whether the respondent should be penalized for his involvement in carrying the seized gold. The Tribunal noted that the application's relief was carelessly drafted, seeking to annul the entire Order-in-Original instead of focusing on the imposition of a penalty. The Tribunal agreed with the submissions that the prayer was only for imposing a penalty on the respondent.

3. The Tribunal considered the arguments presented by the appellant, highlighting the respondent's admissions in his statement. However, upon reviewing the statement, the Tribunal found that the respondent did not admit to knowing the contents of the packets as gold biscuits of smuggled nature. The Tribunal emphasized that for penalty under Section 112(b) to be imposed, the person must have reason to believe that the goods were liable for confiscation. Based on the evidence and the respondent's statement, the Tribunal concluded that there was no justification for imposing a penalty on the respondent, as he did not have the requisite knowledge or belief regarding the nature of the goods he was carrying.

4. Therefore, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal, ruling that there was no basis for modifying the original order by imposing a penalty on the respondent. The decision highlighted the importance of establishing the carrier's knowledge or belief regarding the nature of the goods to impose penalties under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act.

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