DINESH AGGARWAL Vs. DRI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a writ petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing of the Criminal Complaint No.25/1/03 titled V.P. Sharma, Intelligence Officer, DRI vs. M/s. Siddhartha Polymers Ltd. (now known as Siddharth Asia Ltd.) & Ors., under Sections 132 and 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act, 1962.

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that pursuant to the general investigation carried out by the DRI against the import of Poly Carbonate Sheets (PC Sheets) under Open General License into India being imported by various importers, a raid was conducted on the petitioners. After conducting the raid, a show cause notice was issued against the petitioners on 31.3.2003 in substance alleging that they had mis-declared the goods inasmuch as the importer, namely, the petitioners had stated on 1.2.2003 that the PC Sheets imported by them were made by extraction process of scrap indicating that the declaration made by them to the Customs was false, that is, the Sheets are made of degenerated scrap, while as they were prepared from fresh polymer of high resin. The second allegation against them was that the international/domestic price of the raw material, that is, polycarbonate resin required to manufacture the imported PC Sheets is more than the declared price of the finished product at the time of its import. Thus, on the basis of these allegations, a show cause notice was issued to which reply was filed by the petitioners. On not being satisfied, the respondent initiated the departmental proceedings of adjudication against the petitioners and filed a complaint against the petitioners under Sections 132 and 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act, 1962, for mis-declaring the description of imported goods at the time of import and thus, sought their prosecution for various offences under the Customs Act.

(3.) The petitioners have challenged the said proceedings on the ground that no mis-declaration has been made by them as alleged by the Department and have alleged that the documents which are required for the clearance of goods from the Customs, namely, Bill of Entry, Invoice, Packing Lists and Bill of Lading, clearly showed that the goods declared by the petitioners were PC Sheets and cleared as such. It is also alleged by the petitioners that the respondent, before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana had filed an affidavit in a writ petition filed by the present petitioners wherein they have specifically admitted that they did not suspect the petitioners of mis-declaration of the description of the goods imported by them. On the basis of these allegations, the petitioners prayed for quashing of the complaint and the subsequent proceedings.