TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (2) TMI 346
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....oner (Appeals) Customs, CGST, Central Excise, Indore (M.P.) that rejects the appeal filed by the appellant against the order dated 09.09.2022 passed by the Additional Commissioner of Customs, Indore that confirms the imposition of penalty upon him under section 112(b)(i) of the Customs Act, 1962 2. Customs Appeal No. 55788 of 2023 has been filed by Ajay Kumar Jain for quashing the order dated 11.10.2023 passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) to the extent it rejects the appeal filed by the appellant against the order dated 09.09.2022 passed by the Additional Commissioner that confirms the imposition of penalty upon him under section 112(b)(i) of the Customs Act. 3. M/s. S.R. & Co. is engaged in the trading of gold bullion. Mitual Kumar ....
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....o the appellants and others. The allegations against the appellants made in the show cause notice are as follows: "4. Shri Ajay Kumar: i) At the behest of Shri Gourav Jain, he travelled to Ahmedabad to carry and collect the said 6.9 Kg Foreign Origin smuggled Gold. His sole purpose for collecting and brining Foreign Origin smuggled Gold to Indore was to gain monetary benefit offered by Shri Gourav Jain. ii) He admitted that every time he had travelled to Ahmedabad with Shri Mohammad Nissar Mew, it was only to collect and bring Foreign Origin smuggled Gold from Ahmedabad to Indore under the directions Shri Gourav Jain, who used to pay him extra Rs. 1000/- per trip in addition to his salary. iii) He admitte....
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....led Gold. His sole purpose for collecting and bringing Foreign Origin smuggled Gold to Indore was to gain monetary benefit offered by Shri Gourav Jain. ii) He admitted that every time he had travelled to Ahmedabad with Shri Mohammad Nisar Mew, it was only to collect and bring Foreign Origin smuggled Gold from Ahmedabad to Indore under the directions Shri Gourav Jain, who used to pay him extra Rs. 1000/- per trip in addition to his salary. iii) He admitted that he was aware of the fact that Foreign Origin smuggled Gold is being transported by him from Ahmedabad without any legal documents yet he never disclosed the same to any Authority and on the directions of Shri Gourav Jain, he made efforts to transport the smuggled Gol....
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....ed below: "29. As regards imposition of penalty on Appellant-3 and Appellant-4 under Section 112 (b)(i) of the Customs Act, 1962, they had contended that they rely to contentions raised in the appeal filed by the Appellant-1. Appellant-3 and Appellant-4 contended that they had worked as an employee of Appellant-1 for packing of silver jewellery and taking delivery of gold from different cities under instruction of Appellant-1 and gets salary of Rs. 9000/- and Rs. 15000/- per month and additional Rs. 1000/- extra for going out of Indore to take the delivery and they had no knowledge that goods seized were smuggled and there is no mens rea. In this regard I find that these persons were involved in the entire smuggling of foreign Orig....
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....the statements of Gourav Jain and the appellants recorded under section 108 of the Customs Act which statements cannot be considered as relevant as the procedure contemplated under section 138B of the Customs Act was not followed. 10. Shri Nikhil Mohan Goyal, learned authorized representative appearing for the department, however, supported the impugned order and submitted that it does not call for any interference. 11. The submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned authorized representative appearing for the department have been considered. 12. Customs Appeal No. 50647 of 2024 filed by Gourav Jain has been allowed by order of date and the confiscation of gold bars and the imposition of penalty up....