https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=81165 Conscious possession of seized gold and related articles must be established from reliable surrounding circumstances on a preponderance of probabilities. Here, the recovery record did not clearly show the exact place of seizure, the alleged admission was promptly retracted, independent witnesses supported the challenge to the search, and the purported customer was not traced. On that material, the department's version did not outweigh the appellant's explanation, so conscious possession was not proved and the benefit of doubt applied. Because confiscation and penalties under customs and gold-control law depended on that foundation, the penalties were not sustainable and were set aside. en-us Fri, 11 May 1990 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:08:46 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=81165 Conscious possession of seized gold and related articles must be established from reliable surrounding circumstances on a preponderance of probabilities. Here, the recovery record did not clearly show the exact place of seizure, the alleged admission was promptly retracted, independent witnesses supported the challenge to the search, and the purported customer was not traced. On that material, the department's version did not outweigh the appellant's explanation, so conscious possession was not proved and the benefit of doubt applied. Because confiscation and penalties under customs and gold-control law depended on that foundation, the penalties were not sustainable and were set aside. Case-Laws Customs Fri, 11 May 1990 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=81165