https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=343875 When gold is first recovered by the police and later handed over to customs, section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962 is not attracted, so the burden does not shift to the persons proceeded against. The Department must therefore prove alleged smuggling or liability through independent and reliable evidence. A police statement that is later retracted before customs, including in jail custody, cannot by itself sustain penalty, especially where there is no meaningful inquiry or corroboration linking the appellants to the offence. A confession to police was also treated as legally infirm under section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The penalties were set aside for want of reliable evidence. en-us Wed, 31 May 2017 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 30 Apr 2018 14:46:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=343875 When gold is first recovered by the police and later handed over to customs, section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962 is not attracted, so the burden does not shift to the persons proceeded against. The Department must therefore prove alleged smuggling or liability through independent and reliable evidence. A police statement that is later retracted before customs, including in jail custody, cannot by itself sustain penalty, especially where there is no meaningful inquiry or corroboration linking the appellants to the offence. A confession to police was also treated as legally infirm under section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The penalties were set aside for want of reliable evidence. Case-Laws Customs Wed, 31 May 2017 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=343875