1986 (9) TMI 316

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....llant under Section 114 of the Customs Act. 2. Factual backdrops: It was alleged that on 10-12-80 the Police party, P.S. Gharinda conducted Nakabandi on turning point of Arvinder Naushera Dhalla road and at about 7.45 p.m., the Police party noticed one motor cycle coming from village Buraj towards Naushera Dhalla. When the motor cycle came near, the Police tried to stop the motor cycle and also fired with varilight pistol for light. At this one, Pragat Singh fired at the Naka party from his pistol. The Police party challenged him to surrender but he escaped under the cover of darkness. It was further alleged that the Police party caught the present appellant along with the motor cycle and also recovered contraband goods from the box....

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....ehemently urged that there is absolutely no evidence on record to connect the appellant. While elaborating his arguments, he submitted that no investigation or enquiry worth the name was ever conducted by the Customs authorities after the seizure of the contraband goods from the police and to quote his own words "the Customs authorities accepted the story of the police as a gospel truth." This, according to him, was not only a lapse on the part of the authorities concerned but speaks about the sad state of affairs as to how the cases are being handled by the Customs authorities and innocent persons are made scapegoat. Besides, he also submitted that the appellant was also prosecuted by the police concerned under Section 9 of the Opium Act o....

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....the motor cycle and rejected the defence of the appellant saying that there is no support for the defence plea that the appellant had been implicated falsely by the police on the investigation of his rival party and that real culprits have escaped. He further opined that it cannot be believed that the police would be in a position to plant the seized contraband silver weighing 58.090 Kgs. We do not agree with the reasonings of the Adjudicating Authority. In the absence of any investigation on the part of the Customs authorities, we are not prepared to believe the police story as a gospel truth particularly when a part of the police story regarding the said Pragat Singh is itself not believed by the Adjudicating Authority. To say that there ....