TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (10) TMI 366
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....currency notes smuggled into India through Pakistan. The Customs Department had received specific intelligence and the accused was intercepted at ISBT Kashmere Gate. His search was conducted after following the procedure as prescribed under law. Fake Indian currency notes of denomination Rs. 1000/- and Rs. 500/- having total value of Rs. 14,97,000/- were found in his possession. Since the case was to be filed by the customs department under Section 135 of the Customs Act, a sanction was obtained for prosecution of the accused under the Customs Act and a complaint was filed before the learned ACMM for prosecution of the accused for smuggling into India fake Indian currency notes. The petitioner after filing complaint case, in order to show t....
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....uggestion that the accused was falsely implicated and the case was a false case no other suggestion was given. PW-2 proved statement of accused recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act and he also proved different summons sent by him to the accused for this purpose. The sanction obtained from the competent authority was placed on record by the petitioner and it was proved by PW-1. 4. The learned ACMM in his order dated 20th April, 2010 discharging the accused did not discuss any of the evidence placed before him by the witnesses and considered that the first and foremost requirement for conviction of accused was to prove a valid sanction, forgetting that the ACMM was not considering the evidence led before him to convict the ac....
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....accused persons on such technical grounds which do not exist. It seems that in the present case, the Court of ACMM seemed to be determined to discharge the accused on such hyper technical reasons. 7. The accused had opportunity to cross examine the witnesses who proved sanction. No question was asked by the counsel for the accused to the witnesses about the illegality of sanction. The sanction granted by authority on the face of it showed that the authority had considered all the facts as the sanction order contained a narration of the facts of the case showing recovery from the accused person of fake currency notes and after considering these facts, the sanctioning authority granted sanction. When the fact were narrated by the sanc....
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....proof that the sanctioning authority applied its mind before granting sanction. Moreover, grant of sanction is purely an administrative act. The provisions for sanction are made in Statute only to ensure that the innocent persons are not harassed. This Court in Gurbachan Singh v. State - AIR 1970 Delhi 102 observed that it was not the object of the sanction provisions that a public servant who is guilty of the particular offence mentioned in the sanction order should escape the consequences of his criminal act by raising the technical plea of invalidity of sanction. The sanction is a safeguard for the innocent and is not a shield for the guilty. In State through Inspector of Police, AP v. K. Narasimhachary - 2006 Crl. LJ 518 (S.C.), it was ....