RAMAVATAR MOTILAL JANGID Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition has been brought under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482, Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashment of the detention order dated April 13, 1989 passed under Section 3(1) of the COFEPOSA Act with a view to preventing the petitioner from smuggling goods, engaging in transporting, concealing and keeping smuggled goods and the declaration dated June I, 1989 issued under Section 9(1) of the Act.

(2.) The facts in brief are that on August 11, 1988, the petitioner bad arrived at I.G.I. Airport, New Delhi from Dubai and had" declared certain goods including one TV-cum-VCP set and had stated that he was not carrying any contraband goods like gold. On suspicion the said TV-cum-VCP Set was opened and from one of its transformers 20 gold biscuits of 10 Gms. each were recovered and were seized. The petitioner was arrested under the Customs Act and he made the statement before the authorities that he had visited Dubai four times from May 1986 onwards and on his last visit he met one Abdulla at Sherjah and he told him that he was not being taken back in job by the Company in Dubai and he would not be able to earn anything due to his ill-health in India and Abdulla asked him to render some work for him and he would arrange for his free air return ticket from Dubai to Delhi and pay him Rs. 5,000.00 and he handed over the aforesaid TV-cum-VCP Set to the petitioner and he told him that he had concealed 20 gold biscuits in one of the transformers and told him that he should get the said TV-cum-VCP Set detained at the Delhi Airport and after about 10 days Abdulla would come and then he would obtain the detention receipt and would accompany the petitioner and get the said TV-cum-VCP released from the Delhi Airport and would give him Rs. 5,000.00 as a remuneration for this work.

(3.) The petitioner, however, was able to get bail from the Judicial Court vide order dated August 25, 1988.