Smuggling - Betel Nuts of foreign origin - The conclusion...

Smuggling - Betel Nuts of foreign origin - The conclusion arrived at as regards the foreign origin of the said goods and the smuggled nature by the adjudicating authority is based on surmises and conjectures. The goods were seized far away from the international border in the interior of North Bengal from trucks/warehouses. It is an undisputed fact that betel nuts are sold in the adjoining State of Assam, Monipur as well as the said North District of West Bengal and their adjacent area. In such circumstances, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary disclosed it has to be concluded that the Revenue has been unable to establish the smuggled nature of the seized goods and thus discharged the burden of proof cast upon the Revenue in this respect. - AT

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