Case Law Details
Ashish Raj Vs Union of India (Patna High Court)
Patna High Court held that bails is granted on furnishing of bails bonds as the recovery of gold biscuits/ bullions is of value less than Rs. One Crore.
Facts- The petitioners are languishing in custody in a case registered for the offences punishable under Sections 135(1)(a), 135(1)(b) for violations of Sections 7, 46, 47 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with Sections 3(2) of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992.
The prosecution story in nutshell is that on getting specific information, the D.R.I, Patna apprehended the petitioners at Gaya Railway Station from Coach No. S-3, Sealdah-Ajmer Express while they were coming from Kolkata on the charge of carrying smuggled gold from Bangladesh into India weighing 1982.340 grams for a value of Rs. 1,03,45,832/-. Accordingly, from the possession of petitioner/Ashish Raj, seven pieces, from the possession of petitioner/Vishal Kumar, four pieces and from the possession of petitioner/Rajan Kumar Soni, two pieces of gold Biscuits/Bullions were recovered. Subsequently, the statement of all the three apprehended accused persons were recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act where they accepted their guilt and disclosed that said gold Biscuits/Bullions were smuggled from Dubai into India through Bangladesh and they also disclosed the names of the recipients of aforesaid gold Biscuits/Bullions.
Conclusion- Considering the fact that recovery of gold Biscuits/Bullions from the individual possession of the petitioners are less than Rs. One Crore and the period under custody, let the petitioners, above named, be released on bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 10,000/-(Ten Thousands) each with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Special Judge, Economic Offences, Patna in connection with Economic Offence (Customs) Case No. 361(C) of 2022.
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