AI OCR 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (4) TMI 1012
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....he Officers of DRI apprehended the vehicle and Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent No.1) was driving the vehicle. On search of the vehicle, 10 pieces of yellow metal weighing 4253.96 gram and 03 Silver metal pieces weighing 12736 grams were recovered from the cavity created. The same was seized under the reasonable believe that the gold was smuggled. Statement of Shri Gaurav Tiwari was recorded on 24.11.2023 wherein he stated that he belongs to Mathura and was transporting silver and silver items on commission basis for Shri Mukul Aggarwal (Respondent No.2) and Shri Rakesh Choudhary (Respondent No.3) who were running their respective jewelry and bullion shops in Mathura. He did not have any documents showing the licit purchase of the recovered gold and silver which were made by melting smuggled foreign origin gold. On 25.11.2023 Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent No.1) was arrested and was remanded to the judicial custody by the CJM, Meerut. Search was conducted at the residence of Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent No.1) on 26.12.2023. and the search did not reveal any incriminating evidence. Search was also conducted at the shop of Shri Mukul Aggarwal (Respondent No.2) and Shri Rakesh Choudha....
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....its that it is the case of town seizure and as such there can be no presumption of them being smuggled goods as the goods were not seized from any international border or in any customs notified area. There is no foreign markings on the seized gold or silver and the bars were also not of international standard size of 1000 grams. The purity of gold and silver was much less than the international standard of 99.99% purity. Revenue has not got purity tested by sending to any laboratory. The Respondent have submitted copies of the purchase invoices in the name of family members of Respondent No.1, showing the purchase from M/s Brijwasi Bullion & Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. Though M/s Brijwasi Bullion & Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. was the most recognized dealer in Gold, no action has been taken to verify the genuineness of invoices and as such the claim of the Respondent cannot be disbelieved. Searches conducted at the residence of Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent No.1) and shops of Shri Mukul Aggarwal (Respondent No.2) and Shri Rakesh Choudhary (Respondent No.3) did not yield any incriminating evidence. He submits that the entire case has been built upon the statement of Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent ....
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.... valid circumstances to entertain the reasonable believe preceding the seizure and importantly seizure was not made at any international border not within the crescent of any notified customs area like international airport, land customs, ICD etc. None of the seized goods had foreign marking. We find that learned Commissioner has also dropped the proceedings. The entire case is made on the basis of the statement of Shri Gaurav Tiwari (Respondent No.1). The follow up search operation at the premises of the Respondent No.1 and shops of Respondents No.2 & 3 did not yield in any incriminating and clinching evidence and no follow up was conducted to foreign origin of gold and its smuggling into India; therefore, no reasonable believe or any evidence at any stage of investigation that would conclusively prove that gold/silver is of foreign origin and have been smuggled into India. 10. We find that learned Commissioner relies on the judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme court in the case of Collector of Customs v. Sampathu Chetty, AIR 1962 S.C. 316; Shreyas Agrawal V/s Commissioner of Customs in Customs Appeal No.75324 of 2023 Order dated 12.07.2023 & Balwant Rai Soni & Others vide Final Or....
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....hat the investigating officer had lying time more than a year to fortify their case by conducting further investigation in the matter. However, to the reasons and limitation best known to them, there was no action in this direction from the seizure in November 2023 to the issuance of show cause notice in 22.01.2024. Moreover, the Adjudicating Authority was in the receipt of the claim by the Respondent No.1 that the gold was purchased by him by investing money from the selling of ancestral gold and from the selling of property. We find that Respondent No.1 produced copies of the invoices, at the time of filing bail application and before learned Commissioner (Appeals). The copies of the same were also made available to the Bench. A perusal of the copies indicates that the particulars as seen in the copies produced are similar/ comparable. Revenue submits that the format of the invoices is different and thus invoices cannot be relied upon. Revenue did not place on record investigation conducted, if any, at the end of the sellers so that the claim of the respondent can be negated. We are of the considered opinion that the invoices produced by the respondent cannot be considered to be ....
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....ove factual matrix, has overturned the decision of the Tribunal. Therefore, it was not merely the purity of the gold in question but also the statements made during the investigation which formed the basis of the reasonable belief of the officers. In the present case, none of the statements recorded by the Department admit to or even suggest that the gold was smuggled gold. It has also not been brought out in the show cause notice that the purity of the seized gold is such that it could only have been of foreign origin. It is true that the conduct of the appellants was suspicious inasmuch as the gold pieces were being carried in newspapers and a letter was found written to one Shri Vijay in Trissur for requesting the gold to be handed over to the bearer of the letter. It is also confirmed by the DCM, Railways that the appellants had travelled from Trissur to Vijayawada by train. However, we note that Trissur is not even a port in itself. The gold was apparently collected from one Shri Vijay in Trissur. There were also several contradictions between different statements as recorded in para 16 of the show cause notice. All these would show that Shri Kanaka Ratnam (Appellant in Appeal....