2020 (1) TMI 315

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....aments. The appellant no. 1 during the interrogation by the CISF Officers stated that she was not the owner of the Bangles and the same were given to her by somebody to be carried to Kolkata for delivery. The CISF Officer handed over the appellant no. 1 with gold bangles to the Divisional Preventive Force of Agartala Customs Division on the same day i.e 23.06.2017. 2.1 The Customs authorities seized the gold bangles under a reasonable belief that the gold bangles were smuggled into India and it violated the Customs Act, 1962. The appellant no. 1 was arrested. Thereafter, the Customs Officers recorded the statements of the appellant no. 1 and other persons on different dates. The appellant no. 1 during the investigation stated that the owner of the gold bangles is Shrimati Rama Choudhury (Appellant No. 2), Mother -in-Law of the appellant no. 1, who claimed the gold to the Customs Authorities. 2.2 A Show Cause Notice dated 15.11.2017 was issued proposing absolute confiscation of the seized gold and also to impose penalties on various persons including the appellants herein. 2.3 The Adjudicating authority, the Additional Commissioner of Customs ordered absolute confiscation o....

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....ments produced by the appellant are fabricated and after thought to escape the clutches of law. It is submitted that the appellant no. 1 in her initial statement dated 23.06.17 had narrated the details of modus operandi which would disclose that the appellants and the other Noticees are involved in habitual smuggling of gold. It is submitted that the appellants had not disclosed the purchase Invoices during investigation which was produced at the time of reply to Show Cause Notice and therefore both the authorities below correctly held that the documents are afterthought. There is no shop titled "Ramthakur Jewellery" in the address as mentioned therein. 5. After hearing both the sides and on perusal of the records I find that on 23.06.17 at around 10.30 Hrs. CISF Officers/Staff at Agartala Airport in course of frisking of ladies booth of security area found that the appellant no. 1 was wearing 18 gold bangles in both hands totally weighing of 1034.28 Grams proceeded to Kolkata by Air India Flight. The CISF Officer suspected that the gold was smuggled and converted into ornaments. The appellant no. 1 was questioned about the source of the gold bangles and she answered that the ba....

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.... the statements recorded by the Custom Officers at different point of time of various persons are discussed in brief, as under :-  (i) Statement dated 23.06.2017 ( i.e. the date of seizure) of appellant no. 1 Shrimati Manidipa Deb Roy Chowdhury, wife of Shri Nantu Chowdhury stated that she is a housewife and she has received gold from Ratan Chowdhury, son of late Niranjan Chowdhury, who is her husband's elder brother. As per instruction of Ratan Chowdhury, the gold was to be delivered to the shop of one R.P. Shaw, located near Goenka College of Boubazar, Kolkata. Her husband was also carrying gold given by Shri Ratan Chowdhury. She did not know if Ratan Chowdhury is owner or not. She and her husband both were carrying the gold for getting Rs. 2,000/- only for each trip as remuneration. She and her husband carried gold to Kolkata about 5-6 times. Her husband's elder brother Shri Ratan Chowdhury carried gold to Kolkata about 15-16 times every month. (ii) The statement of Shri Ratan Chowdhury son of late Niranjan Chowdhury, brother-in- law of appellant no. 1 was recorded on 27.06.2017, where he stated that the Gold Bangles that were carried by his brother's ....

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....es were actually their family property. Regarding statement dated 23.06.2017, it is stated that she being all alone was nervous and with nervousness she has given the statement before the CISF and Customs Officers. She also confirmed that 18 nos. Gold Bangles belonged to her Mother-in-law, Smt.Rama Chowdhury and those were their family property. It is stated that she did not have any relation with gold smugglers. She did not know about the purity of gold bangles. She stated that the present statement is correct, which she has given in sound mind and good health without any pressure. (vi) On 06.11.2017, the statement of Shri Nantu Chowdhury, husband of Shrimati Manidipa Deb Roy Choudhury, appellant no. 1 herein was recorded where he confirmed that his mother is the actual owner of 18 nos. Gold Bangles seized from the possession of his wife Shrimati Manidipa Deb Roy Choudhury on 23.06.2017 at Agartala Airport. It is stated that 18 nos. Gold Bangles were given by his elder brother Shri Ratan Chowdhury with permission from his mother Smt. Rama Chowdhury to sell them at Kolkata market for higher price as their business is not running well. It is confirmed that the 18 nos. Gold ....

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....fore the Ld Commissioner of Appeals, Customs Guwahati, in connection with the Customs seizure Case No. 03/CL/IMP/DPF/AGT/17-18 dated 23-06-2017, bearing following Serial No. & Date : (i) No 12 dated 11.03.1395 (Bengali calendar), 25.06.1988 (English calendar)  (ii) No 53, dated 06.12.1395 (Bengali calendar), 20.03.1989 (English calendar) (iii) No 82, dated 09.08.1396 (Bengali calendar), 23.11.1989 (English calendar) (iv) No 109 dated 04.05.1397 (Bengali calendar), 19.08.1990 (English calendar) (v) No 123 dated 03.12.1397 (Bengali calendar), 17.03.1991 (English calendar) 2. That the said purchase Memo /Invoices are written in Bengali script. Weight of the Gold bangles are mentioned in Bhari, Anna and Rati. Standard conversion formula in Grams are as below :- 1 Tola = 1 Bhari = 16 Anna = 11.664 Grams 1 Anna = 6 Rati = 0.729 Grams 1 Rati = 0.1215 Grams However, it appears, Ld. Commissioner of Appeals, has committed serious mistake in conversion of aforementioned weighment from Bhari, Anna and Ratti into Grams, requiring filing this conversion chart of the purchase invoice/Memo.". 9. The l....

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....e and surmises that the seized gold bangles were made out of smuggled gold converted into ornaments. I do not find any direct or indirect link in support of the allegation of the department. In my view the Investigating Officer should have enquired the matter in detail in support of their allegation. It appears that the Investigating Officer in the present case had merely proceeded on the basis of the initial statement and have not examined the details thoroughly. They have not investigated even the Invoices submitted by the appellants with the proper local authorities. In such situation, the seizure of gold bangles worn by the Appellant No. 1, cannot be sustained. 12. It is significant to note that the entire case is made out on the basis of statement dated 23.06.2017 of Appellant No. 1. The other statements including Appellant No. 1's subsequent statement and purchase documents were discarded as afterthought. Apparently, the statement dated 23.06.2017 of Appellant No. 1 is uncorroborative in nature. The Tribunal in the case of Vikram Cement (P) Ltd Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Kanpur 2012 (286) ELT 615 (Tri.- Del), upheld by the Hon'ble Allahabad High Court, had observe....