TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (1) TMI 71
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....umbers of gold bars of foreign origin (one kg each) at Sugauli Railway Station from Shri Sumit Goyanka and Shri Awadhesh Kumar Pandey who were travelling in Mithila Express. The gold bars with foreign marking were concealed in their shoes. The apprehended persons alongwith the gold so detected were handed over to the Customs Officers at Muzaffarpur which initiated the proceedings under the Customs Act, 1962 by making seizure of the said gold bars under Section 110 of Customs Act, 1962. 2. In their statements recorded before the Customs Officers, both the persons admitted the foreign nature of the seized gold and its recovery from their shoes at Sugauli Railway Station by GRP personnels. They stated that the said gold bars were handed ove....
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....at Shri Krishna Kumar Jain's residence through HAWALA from Shri Rajesh Kumar Agarwal, Shri Arjun Sah and Shri Ram Naresh Chaurasiya all of Muzaffarpur (Bihar). 3. On the basis of statements recorded under Section 108 of Customs Act, 1962 of Shri Sumit Goyanka & Shri Awadhesh Pandey and call details record obtained from various telecom service providers, follow up investigation was conducted. On search of residential premises of Shri Arjun Sah Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs) only was recovered which on inquiry was found to be lawfully acquired by him and accordingly released to him before issuance of the Show Cause Notice. On search of residential premises of Shri Ram Naresh Chaurasiya, 299 gms. of primary gold was recovered and a sepa....
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....n 112(i) of the Customs Act, 1962. 6. After due process, the Adjudicating Authority passed order confiscating the seized gold under Section 111(b) of the Customs Act, 1962 and imposed penalty under 112(i) of the Customs Act, 1962 as follows:- (a) Shri Sumit Goyanka Rs. 2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lacs only). (b) Shri Awadhesh Kumar Pandey Rs. 2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lacs only). (c) Shri Krishna Kumar Jain, Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten Lacs only). (d) Shri Santosh Kumar Jain Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten Lacs only). (e) Shri Saurav Kumar Jain Alias Raja Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lacs Only). (f) Ankur Kumar Jain alias Vicky Jain Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lacs only). (g) Vikash Agrawal....
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.... that all the family members of Krishna Kumar Jain have been implicated in the case without pinpointing their individual role in the deal, if any, which is not sufficient for inviting penal provisions since no incriminating evidence was found during the investigation. Ld. Advocate cited the following judgments in support of his submissions. (i) Jai Narain Verma Vs. Collector 1994 (72) E.L.T. 567 (Tribunal) (ii) Jitendra Pawar V. Commissioner 2003 (156) E.L.T. 622 (Tribunal) (iii) Nunna Satyanarayana V. Commissioner 2001 (133) E.L.T. 679 (Tribunal) 9. The Ld. Advocate appearing on behalf of Shri Arjun Sah submitted that he is one of the three persons named as hawala operators making money available at Raxaul for....
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....e carriers around the time of delivery. He cited Hon'ble Supreme Court's judgment in the case of Collector of Customs, Madras & Others V. D. Bhoormull, 1983 (13) E.L.T. 1546 (S.C.) wherein it was clarified that the prosecution or the Department is not required to prove its case with mathematical precision to a demonstrable degree and all that is required is the establishment of such a degree of probability that a prudent man may, on its basis, believe in the existence of the fact in issue. That the ownership of the seized foreign gold is not claimed by any one and it was seized while being carried/concealed in the shoes of the carriers from a train coming from Raxaul, a town bordering Nepal is sufficient to prove that both Shri Krishna Kuma....
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....xaul was searched and they were examined only after intervention of Hon'ble High Court at Patna. In consideration of the circumstances, I have no doubt that they are involved in the present deal of smuggling. The law laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Collector of Customs, Madras & Others V. D. Bhoormull, 1983 (13) E.L.T. 1546 (S.C.) that the Department is not required to prove its case with mathematical precision to a demonstrable degree and all that is required is the establishment of such a degree of probability that a prudent man may, on its basis, believe in the existence of the fact in issue is applicable to the present issue. However, I find that the Department has not been able to establish/distinguish the specific role play....