SURENDER PAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against the order dated 7th March, 1994 passed by Mr. Mahender Prasad, Joint Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, New Delhi. By the said order, the petitioner has been detained under Section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of smuggling Activities Act, 1974. This order was served on the detenu on 8th March, 1994 while he was in judicial custody in Central Jail Tihar, New Delhi.

(2.) Brief facts necessary to dispose of this petition are recapitulated as under: The officers of the Headquarter, Customs (Preventive Branch) Delhi, Customs Collectorate, on receiving specific information intercepted the petitioner and Surender Pal on 23rd January, 1994 when they were about to leave the parking lot of domestic airport, New Delhi in a red coloured Maruti Car DL-SC-3509. The said car along with the petitioner and Surender Pal was brought to the Customs House and searched and rummaging was done in the presence of two independent witnesses. As a result of personal search of Surender Pal four slabs of some heavy metal wrapped in light brown colour adhesive tape were recovered from the dark brown shoes worn by the petitioner. On examination of the said four slabs, each was found to contain seven gold biscuits of 10 tolas each including one biscuit in two pieces in each slab, all bearing foreign marking. Further search led to recovery of one Air India ticket and one boarding card of Indian Airlines in the name of the petitioner and some documents which were also recovered from the pocket of his coat. Since the petitioner or Surender Pal could not produce any evidence, documentary or otherwise, to show the legal import of said 28 gold biscuits, the Customs Officers seized the same under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962, in the reasonable belief that the said gold biscuits had been smuggled into India in contravention of various restriction simposed on the import thereof and were liable to confiscation. On further search and rummaging of the said car, one packet of yellow coloured cloth was retovered from the console near the gear which was found to contain 25000 Canadian dollars.

(3.) Statement of the petitioner was recorded u/s 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 wherein he deposed that about 7-8 months back, he got an opportunity to go to Dubai where he met one person by the name of Shri Gango Sindhi, who offered him to take gold to India. He further asked them to sell the gold in India and send the money back to him, and after returning to India, he thought on this offer and decided to employ Surender Pal for this work. After giving him the ticket, he asked Surender Pal to go to Dubai and meet Gango Sindhi in Dubai and contact him on telephone No. 531517. In pursuance of that arrangement, the petitioner had visited Dubai 4-5 times.