TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (10) TMI 143
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....e of cloth under his waist. On enquiry, Shri Kanheya Lal could not produce any document related to the said gold biscuits. The recovered gold was seized by GRPF Guwahati and apprehended Shri Kanheya Lal. 2.2 On 26.05.2024 Shri Kanheya Lal was produced before the Hon'ble Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Kamrup(M), Assam. Thereafter, on 26.05.2024 at around 6:30 pm the gold biscuits along with apprehended person Shri Kanheya Lal was handed over to the officers of Anti-Smuggling Unit of Customs division, Guwahati. 2.3 On 26.05.2024, the Customs Officers certified the seized goods with the government approved valuer, Shri Suresh Kumar Soni of KK Jewellers, He recorded his observations that marking "W" was found on Sl. No. 01 Gold biscuits whereas, Sl. No 02 to 04 Gold biscuits have no marking and all the gold biscuits were having purity 99.50% collectively valued at Rs.48,98,808/- (Rupees Forty-Eight Lakhs Ninety-Eight Thousand Eight Hundred Eight Only). Subsequently, a seizure list under the provisions of section 110 of Customs Act 1962 is prepared on 26.05.2024. 2.4 Subsequently, the samples were sent to New Guwahati Hallmark Centre, Guwahati and as per their test r....
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....2,00,000/- on Shri Bal Kishan Soni Rs.1,50,000/- on Shri Prakash Chand Soni, u/s 112(a) and (b) of the Customs Act 1962. 2.9 Being aggrieved with said order, the appellants filed appeals before the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals)and Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) vide impugned order rejected the appeals filed by the appellants. Being aggrieved with the said order, the appellants are before me. 3. The ld.Counsel for the appellants submits that the appellants have produced the necessary documents including Purchase invoice for the seized gold. He further submits that mere failure to produce the bills immediately during train interception does not alter their genuineness. It is his further contention that appellants discharged the statutory burden under Section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962. He has further contended that the legal burden shifted entirely to the Revenue department to prove that the gold bars were smuggled. He further submits that a detailed inquiry by authorities with the specified seller, revealed absolutely nothing incriminating. He further contends that the seized gold lacks any physical inscriptions, stamps, or marks indicating foreign production. Further....
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....5056/2020 vide Final Order Nos.77299-77300/2025 dated 20.08.2025, wherein this Tribunal has observed as under : "12. We find that in the instant case, gold weighing 3325.49 grams was seized by the 24th Assam Rifles on 24.07.2015 at Imphal-Moreh Road from the possession of the driver Shri S. Subash Singh, appellant no. 2 and subsequently, the same had been handed over to the Customs Officers, Moreh, Manipur. 12.1. From the report submitted by the Assam Rifles while handing over of the gold to Customs Officers at Moreh, we observe that the report does not indicate the presence of any foreign markings on the seized gold. For the sake of ready reference, the "Handing/Taking Over Certificate" evidencing handing over of the said goods to the Customs authorities is reproduced below: - 12.2. From the above report, we find that the gold in question has been mentioned in the report as 'Golden biscuit piece-20 numbers'. The report has not indicated the presence of any foreign markings on the gold recovered by them. 12.3. We have also perused the Seizure inventory prepared by the Customs officers under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. For ready referenc....
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.... origin, confiscation is not sustainable. 12.9. In the instant case, we observe that Assam Rifles recovered gold from the procession of appellant no. 2 solely on suspicion that it was smuggled and later handed it over to Customs. However, instead of conducting an independent verification or forming their own reasonable belief based on credible evidence, the Customs officers proceeded with the seizure under the Customs Act without exercising due diligence. They failed to assess whether a reasonable belief of smuggling genuinely existed, as required by law, and merely acted on the presumption created by Assam Rifles. This lack of independent application of mind renders the seizure arbitrary and legally unsustainable. 12.10. In this regard, we find that a similar view has been expressed by the Tribunal, Kolkata in Customs Commissioner of Cus (Prev.), Patna v. Lalit Krishna Agarwal [Final Order No. 77506 of 2023 dated 08.11.2023 in Customs Appeal No. 75499 of 2022 - CESTAT, Kolkata], wherein it was observed as under:- "6. In fact, during the course of investigation, it is a fact on record that boondi silver and silver jewellary were recovered from the shop of....
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....er it liable for seizure unless there is cogent and positive evidence proving its foreign origin as the first condition, as precursor to seizure as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in Gian Chand v. State of Punjab (supra), wherein the Hon'ble Apex Court has categorically held that mere suspicion is not sufficient to justify seizure, and the prosecution must provide substantive evidence of foreign origin. 13. Therefore, I observe that the GRPS recovered gold from the procession of Appellant No.(3) solely on suspicion that it was smuggled and later handed it over to Customs. However, instead of conducting an independent verification or forming their own reasonable belief based on credible evidence, the Customs officers proceeded with the seizure under the Customs Act without exercising due diligence. They failed to assess whether a reasonable belief of smuggling genuinely existed, as required by law, and merely acted on the presumption created by GRPS. This lack of independent application of mind renders the seizure arbitrary and legally unsustainable. 14. In view of this, I hold that there was no "reasonable belief" in this case for seizure of gold in question in terms of Se....
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....umber Vah Silver colored Maruti van , roud Na. MNOOL GOJ (4) PAN card - 02 Numbers Cup" Adhar Card . 01. Number Voter I/Card - 01 Number _(1) voh roud Gard - 01 Number Driving licence -- 01 Number Amway Business Owner card - 01 Numbor (2) Duspersone Handed over by Zakon ovechy (Signature) Anila S Ragliati Du 224/07/2015 Inspector 7Signaturo) Customa Preventivo Foro. Maren. No serunsiy No Rank NG Sal Name : Anil Kumar ank Name : S . Ramethuen De Unit/i'm : A Coy 24 AR Unit/Fmn SUA - 24.7.2015 Ciduf Sudtaigi fingiutruts Casadol, Manipur 24/07-10 Inspector Customs Preventivo Porco Moreli. a Sun 26.7.15 s'Sid Ant Metalu del. Manipu No : JE2400314 Anita Rank: Nb/ Smb Name: Anil Kumar 24 Assam Rifles Document 2 INVENTORY OF THE GOODS SEIZED (Section 110 of the Customs Act., 1962) 1. Name and address of the owner ! Shri Soibom Subhash Singh (26yrs) S/o Solbam Gulapi Singh, R/o Naranseina, Mamang Leikal, PO & PS Moirang, Bishnupur Dist., Manipur Miss.S. Rameshwori Devi, Inspector, C.P.I., Morch, 2 By whom seized 1 3. Place, date & time of seizure Initially detected by 24" Ass....
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..... Ammangel s phanie Ls ---------- -4u- KAmirAr Pt- Plangol del Best. porwany. Assam ph. 9365519605. (3) Khirul Islam Document 4 Annexure-3 POKM-1 MART-1 VRE UM. 13/2021-25 206 Et 27/05/2024 Original (For Owner) Duplicate (For Custodian) Triplicate (For case file) INVENTORY (Seized under the provisions of Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.) 1. Name & Address of the Owners of the goods: Shri Kanheya Lal, Age-48 years, S/o Bhanwar Lal, Dhadi Walo Ka Mohalia, Merta, Nagaur, Rajasthan- 341510. Correspondence address- Kishan Tallors, Dayanand Marg, Opposite Rajkiya Valika Uchaya Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Meera Mandir, Merta City, Nagaur, Rajasthan-341510. 2. By whom selzed: Shri Alok Ranjan, Superintendent (In-situ), Anti-Smuggling, Customs Division, Guwahati. 3. Date, Time & place of seizure: The officials of GRPS, Guwahati had recovered 04(four) nos. of yellow metal biscuits believed to be gold from the possession of Shri Kanheya Lal from Train No. 12423 (New Delhi Rajdhani Express), at PF No. - 01 of Guwahati Railway station on 26.05.2024 and handed over to the Guwahati Customs Officers on 26.05.2024 at around 06:30 P.M and which was formally seized at the O/....