TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (7) TMI 311
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....onsignments of imported raw material, deposited in cash duty at concessional rate of 20% and out of balance of 45%, 20% was secured by FDR and the rest of 25% by furnishing bonds. The petitioner in all imported consignment to the extent of 1371.878 MT during the said period availing benefit of payment of only part of duty. Against six bills of entry, bonds against four bills of entry were later discharged and FDRs returned to the petitioner. 3. According to the prosecution, the petitioner availed benefit of as concessional rate of customs duty by furnishing false returns and fabricated documents to the jurisdictional Central Excise Authorities. The statements of witnesses show that the consignments were, in fact, diverted to the Ghee manuf....
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....ri Agrawal v. Union of India and Ors., 2007 (79) E.L.T. 110 (Bom.) rendered by relying upon an earlier single Bench judgment of the same Court in Subhash Chaudhary v. Deepak Jayala and Ors, 2004 (64) E.L.T. 651 (Bom.) as also a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision dated 6th March, 2006 in Kulbhushan Goyal v. Joint Commissioner of Customs, CFS, Focal Point, Ludhiana in Criminal Misc. Nos. 71789-M-2005, learned senior counsel argued that since an offence under Section 135(1)(ii) of the Customs Act, 1962 (for short the 'Act') is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years or fine or both, it would constitute only a bailable offence and the petitioner is, therefore, as a matter of right, entitled to be released on bail. It wa....
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....orts of jurisdictional Central Excise Authorities. Learned counsel for the complainant in the context of defence plea that an offence punishable under Section 135(i)(ii) of the Act falls within the category of bailable offences pointed out that the decision of the Bombay High Court in Subhash Chaudhary (supra) holding the offence punishable under Section 135(1)(ii) of the Act bailable and which forms basis of the other decision of the Bombay High Court in Sangit Krishna Kumari Agrawal (supra) as also of Punjab and Haryana High Court in Kulbhushan Goyal v. Joint Commissioner of Customs, CFS, Focal Point, Ludhiana being under a stay by the Supreme Court, cannot be used to lend assurance to the plea that the offence complained of is a bailable....
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....rom the petitioner is of little consequence in finding if the petitioner has committed an offence punishable under Section 135(1)(ii) of the Act. The amount of customs duty deposited at a concessional rate of 20% and furnishing of FDRs for Rs. 11 lacs had, in any case, to be made by the petitioner to avail of the benefit of importing raw material at a concessional rate of customs duty. Though according to the records maintained by the petitioner, the raw material imported against six bills of entry are shown to have been used for manufacture of washing soap, the correctness of such records was rendered questionable in the face of the statements of transporter's, consignment agents and reports of jurisdictional Central Excise authorities. Th....
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.... to the notice of the prosecuting agency. Thus, in view of prima facie evidence of petitioner availing the benefit of importing raw material at a concessional rate of customs duty by furnishing false returns and fabricated documents and thereby evading payment of normal customs duty, it is altogether immaterial as to how much amount on account of evasion of customs duty remains recoverable as on date. 8. The other argument raised by learned senior counsel for the petitioner, based on the decisions referred to above, that an offence punishable under Section 135(1)(ii) of the Act being a bailable one, the petitioner is, as a matter of right entitled to bail, is unacceptable in the face of a decision of this Court in Mohan Lal Thapar v. Y.P. ....
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.... interest of the public at large and the State are to be safeguarded. Personal liberty of an individual though precious, is of little value if the larger interest of the people and the Nation are at stake. Period of detention in jail may though continue to be a ground for consideration in deciding the question of grant of bail, societal and/or National interest must outweigh such consideration. National interest must reign supreme in all situations and sacrificing individual interest of a person posing threat to it can never be a bad bargain. 11. Nature and seriousness of the offence, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with and the larger interest of the public and the State are some of the considerations that have to ....