TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (6) TMI 637
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.... Akshay Logistics (NSAIU131), a Warehouse notified under Section 57 of the Act, 1962 as a public warehouse, were being clandestinely removed from the said warehouse and were being illegally diverted to the market to evade payment of customs duty and to circumvent the restrictions imposed under the Customs Act, 1962 or by any other law for the time being in force, by the members of a syndicate. 4. Thereupon, the inspection/examination proceedings were carried out at Akshay Logistics. It transpired that the goods which were allowed for warehousing at Akshay Logistics had been clandestinely removed from the said warehouse in violation of the conditions imposed while providing licence for a public bonded warehouse. Investigation revealed that ....
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....gad. Hence, this application. 7. Mr. Karande, learned Counsel for the applicant, submitted that the applicant is sought to be roped in on the basis of the statements of the co-accused. Those statements recorded under Section 108 of the Act, 1962 have been promptly retracted. Even otherwise, the complicity of the accused for an offence punishable under Section 135 of the Act, 1962 cannot be sustained on the strength of the statements recorded under Section 108 of the Act, only. In the facts of the case, according to Mr. Karande, there is no other material to substantiate the indictment against the applicant. To bolster up a submission that the complicity cannot be sustained on the basis of 108 statement alone, reliance was placed on the dec....
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....t that the applicant emerges as the central figure in the plan to defraud the revenue by clandestinely removing the goods stored in the public bonded warehouse. It has further transpired that the applicant was in touch with the importers. Further trail can only be established by the custodial interrogation of the applicant. Since it is a case of an economic offence and adversely affects the public exchequor, the applicant does not deserve the relief of pre-arrest bail. 11. I have carefully considered the material on record, including the affidavit in reply filed on behalf of the Respondent No. 1. Prima facie, the modus operandi appears to be that the importers would import the goods i.e. Areca Nuts / Betel Nuts, and those goods were allowe....
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....r of Akshay Logistics stated that members of the syndicate made him to join Akshay Logistics, a public bonded warehouse, and for facilitating the removal of the goods from the warehouse, he was promised Rs. 30,000/- per container. He signed and issued Space Certificate and delivered the same to Akshay Phalade who used to hand it over to the applicant and the co-accused Ramnath Bodke. 15 Mr. Akshay Phalade, in turn, stated that the idea of clandestine removal of the goods from Akshay Logistics was given by Ramnath Bodke. Ramnath Bodke and Tushar, the applicant, used to visit Akshay Logistics and inquire about the status of the containers having Areca Nuts / Betel Nuts which were to be clandestinely removed. He further stated that the applic....
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....in denial of the things which cannot be denied, such person cannot turn around and urge that since he attended the investigating officer, he deserves pre-arrest bail. 19. The judgment of this Court in the case of Union of India V/s. Kisan Ratan Singh (supra), was in an appeal against the order of acquittal. The decisions in the cases of Afzal Gaus Mohinuddin Shaikh (Supra) and Jodharam Joetaram Chudhary (Supra), turned on their peculiar facts. 20. In the case at hand, there is a very strong prima facie case against the applicant. It is a case of economic offence which has the propensity to affect the economic fabric of the society. Proper investigation is, therefore, necessary to unearth the fraud, unmask the identity of the persons who a....