2002 (10) TMI 718

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....Jai Bhagwan and Pappu filed appeals challenging the imposition of penalty of Rs. ten thousand under Sec. 112 of the Customs Act. 2. Brief facts of the case are that on 6-5-99, two trucks were intercepted by the Customs officers and 25 bags containing small cardamoms were recovered from each truck. Statements of Sh. Jai Bhagwan, driver of one of the trucks and Sh. Pappu, cleaner of one of the trucks, were recorded as other driver and cleaner ran away from the spot. S/Sh. Jai Bhagwan and Pappu, in their statements, under Sec. 108 of the Customs Act, admitted that the smuggled cardamoms were loaded in their truck by Sh. Raja Babu and they were to receive higher rate of fare and also Rs. one thousand extra for transporting the smuggled ....

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....ng higher fair and also extra reward for transporting the smuggled cardamoms from Nepal. They also admitted in their statements that the cardamoms were smuggled from Nepal and reached the place of loading through bullock carts. The contention of the revenue is also that nobody claimed the goods worth Rs. ten lakh. If the goods were legally imported or of Indian origin, then Raja Babu could have easily claimed the goods. As the appellants had not made any request to cross-examine the experts, regarding their expert opinion, they cannot challenge now the opinion given by the experts. 5. In this case, small cardamoms were recovered from the trucks and nobody claimed the goods. S/Sh. Jai Bhagwan and Pappu in their respective statements,....