Kailash Rajput Vs. Commr. of Cus., Sahar Airport - Court Judgment

Excerpt:

.....brought out the involvement of the appellant not only based upon his own statement but also the statement of one shri sanjay mishra, shri sanjay tirodkar, shri salim khan and shri aslam mohamed khan. although the plea of the appellant is that he has retracted his statement and that all others have also retracted their statements and therefore a case cannot be made out against him only on the basis of retracted statements, we find that the commissioner has clearly dealt with the role of the appellant from internal page 103 of the impugned order, and has held that the evidence which is of a independent nature has been duly corroborated by sanjay tirodkar and that the appellant's statement, that he has not met salim khan is belied by his own statement in which he admitted meeting salim khan at regency hotel. the findings of the commissioner are detailed and there is enough material on record to prove that the appellant had aided and abetted the smuggling of computer parts and miscellaneous electronic goods. we, therefore uphold the impugned order and reject the appeal.

Judgment:

1. The appellant herein who is an employee of M/s. Patel. On Board Couriers challenges the imposition of penalty of Rs. 50,000/- upon him by the Commissioner in the impugned order.

2. None appears for the appellant in spite of notice; we heard the Ld.

SDK and perused the records. The case of the department against the appellant is that he had aided and abetted the smuggling of computer parts and miscellaneous electronic goods, seized on 22-12-1993 at the exit gate of customs arrival hall Model-II NIPT Sahar Air Port, Mumbai.

The evidence against the appellant consists of his own statement recorded on 28-4-1994, 10-5-1995 and 20-5-1994, wherein he has inter alia stated that he had learnt that Mohd. Kuddus driver of M/s.

Speedways Dubai would be sending courier bags containing dutiable goods on behalf of Aslam Khan and that one Sanjay Tirodkar would clear them without payment of customs duty and Shri Sanjay Tirodkar can clear the said courier bags with dutiable goods without payment of duty, if he gets such bags loaded to the flight. Shri Sanjay Tirokdar agreed to clear the bags on payment of Rs.5000/-. The Commissioner has clearly brought out the involvement of the appellant not only based upon his own statement but also the statement of one Shri Sanjay Mishra, Shri Sanjay Tirodkar, Shri Salim Khan and Shri Aslam Mohamed Khan. Although the plea of the appellant is that he has retracted his statement and that all others have also retracted their statements and therefore a case cannot be made out against him only on the basis of retracted statements, we find that the Commissioner has clearly dealt with the role of the appellant from internal page 103 of the impugned order, and has held that the evidence which is of a independent nature has been duly corroborated by Sanjay Tirodkar and that the appellant's statement, that he has not met Salim Khan is belied by his own statement in which he admitted meeting Salim Khan at Regency Hotel. The findings of the Commissioner are detailed and there is enough material on record to prove that the appellant had aided and abetted the smuggling of computer parts and miscellaneous electronic goods. We, therefore uphold the impugned order and reject the appeal.