TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2018 (3) TMI 122
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.... He was carrying two pieces of hand baggage after immigration clearance collected one piece of checked-in-baggage from conveyor belt the passed through the green channel in his attempt to get out of the Arrival Hall. While the appellant reached the exit gate of the Customs arrival hall, he was intercepted by the Customs officers and asked whether he had any dutiable / contraband goods to which the passenger replied in the negative. The customs disembarkation card of the passenger had nil declaration. On reasonable belief that the passenger was carrying some dutiable / contraband goods in his person which is liable for confiscation under the provisions of Customs Act, the appellant was searched in the presence of witnesses. The zipper bag wa....
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....vity because of his eagerness to visit Dubai and financial reward offered by Habeeb and further that he was under the impression that the gold bars will not be detected by the Customs officers. Thereafter after following the due process, a show-cause notice was issued to him and after following due process, the Additional Commissioner by detailed reasoned order has ordered for absolute confiscation of the 6 gold bars under Section 111(d), 111 (i), 111(j) 111(I) and 111(m) of the Customs Act and also confiscated other materials and also imposed a penalty of Rs. 1,50,000/- on the appellant under Section 112(a) and 112(b) of the Customs Act for the acts and omissions which rendered the gold bars liable for confiscation. Aggrieved by the said o....
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....scation. It is his further submission that at the material time gold biscuit was a canalized item and would have been imported by certain agencies and it was not a prohibited item. In support of his submission, he relied upon the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of Shaikh Jamal Basha Vs. GOI [1997(91) ELT 277 (AP)] wherein the High Court has held as under:- 3. ... .... Hence gold in the form other than ornaments is entitled to be imported on payment of duty Attempt to import gold unauthorisedly will thus come under the second part of Section 125 (1) of the Act where the adjudging officer is under mandatory duty to give option to the person found guilty to pay (fine) in lieu of confiscation, Section 125 of the Act lea....
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....ms officers and he was asked whether he was carrying any dutiable or contraband goods to which he replied in negative. He further submitted that on his personal search, the gold was concealed inside the dark read coloured socks worn by him. He also submitted that the appellant in his statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act has clearly admitted that he was carrying the gold for one Mr. Habeeb who has agreed him to pay Rs. 25,000/- in addition to his travel expenses. The learned AR further submitted that in view of his clear admission that he was carrying for one Mr. Habeeb and his clear admission that he indulged in smuggling of gold and the gold brought to India unlawfully. The learned AR relied upon the following decisions in suppor....