https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=789016 Customs law on confiscation of gold may rest on reasonable belief under Section 123 where clandestine concealment and surrounding circumstances justify a prudent officer's suspicion, even without border interception or foreign markings; the reverse burden then shifts to the possessor. A statement recorded under Section 108 retains evidentiary value as voluntary admission, and a belated retraction without contemporaneous proof of coercion will not dislodge it. Documentary invoices and purchase records do not discharge the burden where they fail to explain a scientific mismatch between the claimed local source and the seized gold's very high purity. The appellate challenge succeeded and confiscation and penalties were restored. en-us Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:50:48 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=789016 Customs law on confiscation of gold may rest on reasonable belief under Section 123 where clandestine concealment and surrounding circumstances justify a prudent officer's suspicion, even without border interception or foreign markings; the reverse burden then shifts to the possessor. A statement recorded under Section 108 retains evidentiary value as voluntary admission, and a belated retraction without contemporaneous proof of coercion will not dislodge it. Documentary invoices and purchase records do not discharge the burden where they fail to explain a scientific mismatch between the claimed local source and the seized gold's very high purity. The appellate challenge succeeded and confiscation and penalties were restored. Case-Laws Customs Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=789016