TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (12) TMI 492
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....the petitioners as an interim prayer sought for a direction to 2nd respondent to release the seized re-melted Indian origin gold weighing 2000 grams valued at Rs. 1.20 Cr. to 1st petitioner pending disposal of the writ petition. 2. The petitioners' case succinctly is thus: (a) The 1st petitioner is in business of purchasing and selling gold bullion and he is on the rolls of GST Department vide registration No. 37ALRPK9282A2ZP under the name and style of M/s. Sree Karthikeya Traders, Guntur. (b) On 19.03.2023, the 1st petitioner went to Chennai to purchase 2000 grams of re-melted gold of Indian origin from M/s. SRR Traders, Chennai on credit basis. On 19.03.2023, M/s. SRR Traders handed over to 1st petitioner 1000 grams of re-melted gold of Indian origin of 999 purity along with tax invoice No. SRRT/G/22-23/1 dated 19.03.2023 for Rs. 60,00,000/- (including IGST of 3%). (c) Further, on 20.03.2023, M/s. SRR Traders handed over to 1st petitioner another 1000 grams of gold bullion of Indian origin of 999 purity along with tax invoice No. SRRT/G/22-23/2 dated 20.03.2023 for Rs. 60,00,000/- (including IGST of 3%). Thus, the 1st petitioner purchased 2 Kgs of gold from M/s. SRR Tra....
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....ed by the doctor to take complete rest for one week. So, the petitioners 2 to 5 submitted letters dated 07.04.2023 and 08.04.2023 to the Commissioner of Customs, Vijayawada / 2nd respondent narrating that the 1st petitioner had handed over the gold to bring it from Chennai and deliver at Guntur and that the gold is of Indian origin and they further stated in the letters that they do not know English language and their statements were obtained under coercion. Petitioner No. 1 also submitted a letter dated 08.04.2023 narrating all these facts and requested to release the seized gold. He also submitted a reminder letter dated 20.04.2023 but there was no response from respondents 2 and 3. The 1st petitioner contends that the seizure is illegal and statements obtained from petitioners 2 to 5 were under coercion and without following the procedure prescribed under Section 108 of the Customs Act. Hence, the writ petition. 3. The 3rd respondent filed counter on behalf of the respondents and opposed the writ petition. It is contended that as per the CGST / APGST Act, the transportation goods must be supported by the invoice / delivery challan, but in the instant case, the petitioners 2 t....
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....ng Counsel for respondents Smt. Santhi Chandra argued that there are a number of suspicious circumstances surrounding the transportation of gold which would cast a reasonable doubt in the minds of respondent officials that the gold is of foreign origin and illegally smuggled. In expatiation, learned Standing Counsel narrated the suspicious circumstances viz., (i) M/s. SRR Traders admittedly started its business in gold bullions only in the month of February 2023 and it is highly unlikely that a new trader has sold the large quantity of gold i.e., 2000 grams of gold to the petitioner No. 1 of Guntur on credit basis and except the invoices dated 19.03.2023 and 20.03.2023, no other supporting documents like credit request letter of 1st petitioner, credit bills, ledger copies etc. are placed to show that the gold was sold on credit basis. (ii) When the petitioners 2 to 5 were intercepted by the respondents - officials separately, they did not produce the purchase bills or invoices to show that the gold carried by them was purchased by 1st petitioner from M/s. SRR Traders, Chennai. If the version of 1st petitioner was correct, he should have given them atleast the copies of origina....
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....e travelling in bus from Chennai to Guntur and brought them to the Customs office at Vijayawada in their vehicle and recorded their statements under Section 108 of the Customs Act and seized the gold from them. While the respondents claim that in their statements the petitioners 2 to 5 have given incriminating facts regarding smuggling of the gold at the instance of 1st petitioner, the petitioners denied the same and it is their contention that the respondent officials have obtained their signatures on computerized statements by coercion without disclosing the contents thereof and therefore, subsequently they have given their statements again with true facts. In this writ petition, the petitioners primarily seek for writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in seizing the gold from the possession of the petitioners 2 to 5 by recording their statements under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 without following due procedure as illegal. The respondents would contend that the petitioners 2 to 5 have voluntarily given their statements which were recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act and no coercion was applied and there was no violation of law. In this context....
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.... statement recorded U/s 161 Cr.P.C and therefore it is a material piece of evidence collected by Customs Officials U/s 108 of the Customs Act. (b) The above is the legal nature of the statement recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act. So far as the contention of petitioners 2 to 5 that their signatures were obtained on the statements without informing them of the contents thereof is concerned, it must be said that no cogent material is placed before us to come to such a conclusion. On the other hand, the conduct of the petitioners suggests an inference that the coercion as alleged was not correct. It should be noted that the statements of the petitioners 2 to 5 were said to be obtained by the respondent authorities on 20.03.2023. It is also the case of petitioners that the petitioners 2 to 5 went to petitioner No. 1 and informed this fact on 22.03.2023. If really their true version was suppressed and false statements were prepared by the respondents, nothing prevented the petitioners to issue a notice or take up other legal course of action available to them against such false statements immediately. However, they kept silent till 07.04.2023 and then only they addressed le....
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.... very much to transport the gold, or any other employee or relative for the said purpose. However, his conspicuous silence for about two weeks, in such dire circumstances, creates doubt in the case of the petitioners. (d) Nextly and most importantly, as per the statements dated 31.05.2023 and 12.07.2023 of Kovvuri Ramakrishna, proprietor of M/s. SRR Traders, Chennai, recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, (copies of which and other documents are filed along with a memo dated 24.07.2023 by the learned Standing Counsel for respondents), M/s. SRR Traders sold 100 gram bars of 20 nos. of "MMTC-PAMP" to 1st petitioner on credit basis under two invoices dated 19.03.2023 and 20.03.2023. However, on 20.03.2023, the customs officials have seized the gold from petitioners 2 to 5 in different shapes, size and weight as follows under two Panchanamas: Sl.No. Quantity seized Number of pieces From the possession 1 498 g Three (1st - 476g, 2nd - 21g and 3rd - 1g Shri Munna Naveen Kumar 2 501 g One Shri Chappala Venatesh 3 500 g One Shri Battula Venkata Durga Prasad 4 499.780 g Three (1st - 491g, 2nd - 4.670g and 3rd - 4.110 g) Shri Shaik Mastan Vali W....