In absence of foreign marking and cogent evidence, onus is on department to prove that gold is smuggled

Commissioner of Customs Vs Shri Mohammed Ali Jinnah (CESTAT Chennai)

CESTAT Chennai held that in absence of foreign marking and any other cogent evidence, onus is on department to prove that the smuggled nature of the goods.

Facts- The present appeal is filed by the department against the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) who set aside the confiscation of goods (gold) and also the penalties imposed by the adjudicating authority.

Based on specific intelligence, a search was carried out towards Mohammed Ali Jinnah (the respondent). During the personal search of the respondent, the officers recovered a copy of his Aadhar card, bus ticket and two packets wrapped with blue adhesive tape and kept in a green and blue polythene bag. On cutting open these packets, it contained two crude gold bars (of weight 1720 and 1377 grams) totally weighing 3097 grams. The respondent did not have any valid document for the possession of the gold and it appeared to the department that these two crude gold bars are smuggled into India from Sri Lanka without declaring it to customs with the intention to evade payment of customs duties and held as the gold bars were liable for confiscation under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The same were seized under mahazar dated 23.1.2017.

The officers visited the residence and premises of Mohammed Ali Jinnah at Devakottai but did not find any incriminating documents. The travel details of bus tickets recovered from the respondent were obtained from the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd.

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