TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (9) TMI 563
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.... Customs Act, 1962. The allegation against him is that along with the other accused namely Shahbaz and Abdul Lais, the petitioner/3rd accused used ladies as carriers for smuggling gold through various Airports in India. In the instant case, the smuggling gang had allegedly used two ladies named Rahila Cheerayi and Hiromasa Sebastian (accused Nos. 4 and 5, respectively) as mules to smuggle 39 KGs of gold worth Rs. 11.7 crores which includes the smuggling of 6 KGs of gold on 08/11/2013 through the Calicut Airport which was intercepted and seized by the D.R.I. 2. The petitioner has approached this Court under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C to quash the proceedings against him in the aforesaid OR No. 12/2013 stating that apart from the confession s....
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.... roommate, the 4th accused, had introduced her to Mr.Shahbaz, the 1st accused. She was made to believe that they would get good Crl.MC 4400/2019 remuneration for smuggling of gold. Due to financial difficulties, she accepted the offer. She also understood that the petitioner was a business partner of the 1st accused. She admitted of having received good remuneration for smuggling gold on previous occasions. After reaching India, she had handed over the gold to the 4th accused for being handed over to the other accused. Remuneration to her was also paid through the 4th accused. 4. The 4th accused also gave a similar statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act revealing the fact that she was working as SAP Consultant and has been associat....
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....trate. After consulting her Advocate, she had retracted her confession statement. 5. The petitioner states that accused 1 to 3 were implicated solely on the basis of the statements given by accused Nos. 4 and 5. Annexure-A5 is the occurrence report filed before the Court. 6. The DRI also recorded Annexure-A6 statement of one P.V. Naushad, the caretaker of the flat at Alfa Serene, taken on lease by the petitioner. He was introduced to the petitioner by Louis Rodriguez, a film director, who revealed that the petitioner used to invest his money earned out of smuggling activities in the production of films. He has stated that the film star Idavela Babu used to frequently come to that flat for discussions regarding production of films. He also....
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....d Souk and Viren A U at Dubai and the payments for the purchase of gold was made either by M. P. C Trading or personally by the petitioner. The smuggled gold was sold and proceeds shared by the partners and distributed as Hawala money. He has admitted sale of 10 Kgs of gold to Mohammed Ashraf of Malabar Gold. 9. In Annexure-A11 statement given by the aforesaid Mohammed Ashraf, he has admitted of purchasing 10 Kgs of gold from the 1st accused. Though he gave a second statement on the Crl.MC 4400/2019 very next day affirming his Annexure-A11 statement, he later retracted it by sending a letter to the ADGP, DRI alleging coercion and threat. 10. The petitioner was not arrested as he was residing in Dubai in connection with his business. All t....
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....nder the Customs Act. Formal accusation under the Customs Act could be said to have been made only after the filing of a complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate. It is also stated that statements made under Section 108 of the Customs Act during the enquiry by the customs officers are not statements made by a person accused of an offence. Hence, the inherent powers of the High Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C cannot be invoked in a case where a person is apprehending proceedings against him under the Customs Act, so long as no complaint has been filed against him. Hence, it is prayed that the petition may be dismissed. 13. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner , Sri Madhavankutty, and Sri S. Manu, the Standing Counsel ....
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.... to under Section 30 of the Evidence Act is not of much assistance in this case. 15. Per contra, Sri S.Manu, the learned Standing Counsel for the D.R.I., submits that customs officers are not Police officers. They are revenue officers, primarily concerned with detection of smuggling and enforcement of proper duties. It is stated that an occurrence report submitted by a customs officer cannot be equated with an F.I.R., and therefore, the provisions of the Cr.P.C cannot strictly apply to an investigation under the Customs Act. The learned Standing Counsel argues that the power to arrest a person by a customs officer is statutory in character and cannot be interfered with. The person who gives a statement under Section 108 of the Customs Act ....