AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (8) TMI 724
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.... officers working under the charge and subordinate to the Ld. Respondent to permit the presence of the advocate with the petitioner while interrogating/enquiry in case/file DRI/DZU/23/INT/101/2020 in conformity with the law propounded by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and this Hon'ble Court, as cited supra; and/or (b) Direct the Ld. Respondent to conduct the interrogation promptly without undue delay and during the office hours i.e. from 10 AM to 5.00 PM, with usual breaks in the case/file DRI/DZU/23/ INT/101/2020. (c) And direct the respondent not to take any coercive steps against the petitioners, in the above matter;" 2. Learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted....
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....e said imports made by Diplomats/ Embassies, in furtherance thereof, the premises of the companies had again been searched by the respondent and the panchnama had been drawn on 10th September, 2020, in this regard. It is further submitted that in connection with the investigations, as stated above, the business associate of the petitioners, Mr. Rajesh Jain, had been called at their office and he was thrashed and beaten by the officers of the respondent and was coerced to make statement on dictated lines. The petitioners had been sent a summons under Section 108 of the Act on his office email, requiring him to appear on 23rd September, 2020. A reply to the said notice had been sent by the wife of Mr. Pradeep Pal Singh, through Speed Post to ....
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....te should be allowed to be present during the interrogation of the petitioners. He/they should be made to sit at a distance beyond hearing range, but within visible distance and the lawyer must be prepared to be present whenever the petitioners are called upon to attend such interrogation." 6. Per Contra, Learned Standing Counsel for the respondent vehemently opposed the instant writ petition and submitted that there is no sufficient ground available in the instant writ petition for allowing the prayer as made by the petitioners. It is submitted on behalf of the respondent that a specific intelligence was received by the respondent that a syndicate of Delhi and Mumbai based persons is engaged into smuggling of imported cosmetics goo....
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....l of the above case law reveals that presence of a lawyer cannot be allowed at the time of examination of a person under the Customs Office. The petitioner in the present case has been summoned by the Officers under GST Act who are not Police Officers and who have been conferred with the power to summon any person whose attendance they consider necessary to give evidence or to produce a document. The presence of the lawyer, therefore, is not required during the examination of the petitioner as per the law laid down by Hon'ble Supreme Court in Pool Pandi's case (Supra). So far as apprehension of petitioner that he may be physically assaulted or manhandled is concerned, this Court is of the opinion that it is a well settled law now that no in....
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....ns and are liable to be dismissed. 11. Heard Learned Counsel for the parties and perused the record. 12. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Vijay Sajnani's case (Supra) has held as under :- "3. Similar matters have been filed before us earlier and in those matters, we had directed that during interrogation of the petitioner(s), his/their Counsel would be allowed to be present within visible distance, but beyond hearing range. Inasmuch as, the same orders are being passed in these matters, we dispose of the writ petition by directing that in similar cases, in the event the person(s) summoned under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, wish(es) for similar orders, he(they) may apply to the Customs Authorities conce....