UNION OF INDIA Vs. RAIMENTS & GARMENTS INTERNATIONAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The accused/respondents herein, who were arrayed as A-1 to A-6, were charged and tried before the learned Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, in E.O.C.C. No.181/01 for the offences u/s 18 (2) r/w 18 (3) of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (for short 'FERA') punishable u/s 56 (1) (i) of FERA r/w Section 49 (3) and (4) of Foreign Exchange Management Act and the trial court found that the prosecution, having not proved the case as against the accused beyond reasonable doubt, acquitted all the accused. The Union of India, aggrieved by the said order of acquittal has preferred the present appeal. For the sake of convenience, the accused/respondents herein will be referred to as the accused.

(2.) The case of the prosecution could be briefly summarised as under :- Pursuant to information received, the officials of the Enforcement Directorate conducted search on the factory and residential premises of A-1 and A-2 in which documents and related correspondence were seized. The said documents and correspondence related to non-realisation of export proceeds to the tune of Rs.1,52,20,008/- out of the total amount of Rs.2,16,24,676/- of which only Rs.64,04,688, covering 119 GRs alone were realised. Scrutiny of the documents further revealed that substantial amounts to the tune of US$ 2,54,274.43 and US$ 69,917.22 were pending realisation from two buyers of US origin. It was further unearthed that out of the 119 GRs, A-1 was involved in the direct export in respect of 43 GRs in which A-1 was the original declarant and in respect of the other 76 GRs, quotas of several other manufacturers-cum-exporters were utilised by A-1 for effecting those exports. Further investigation of the case revealed the complicity of A-7 to A-9 (cases against them were separated) who had also signed the forms for being utilised by A-1 for varying amounts. Necessary directives were issued by the office of the Enforcement Directorate to various Banks and individuals relating to the transaction conducted by A-1 in the above clandestine manner. Pursuant to the above search operation, show cause notice was issued on 13.10.98 to A-1 to A-9 by the Special Director, Enforcement Directorate, for contravention of Section 18 (2) r/w 18 (3) and Central Government Notification No.F.1/67/EC/73-1&2, both dated 1.1.74 and Section 68 (1) of FERA for their failure to realize the respective full export proceeds of the goods within the stipulated period. The case against A-1 to A-9 was adjudicated by the Special Director of Enforcement, New Delhi, who held all of them guilty and imposed penalties on them. Opportunity Notices dated 6.2.01 were issued to all the accused by the complainant and, thereafter, the complaint was laid against A-1 to A-9.

(3.) The accused/respondents herein were furnished with the relied upon documents u/s 207 Cr.P.C. and the case was committed to the Economic exclusively dealing with Economic Offence cases after framing charges viz., 18 (2) r/w 18 (3) of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (for short 'FERA') punishable u/s 56 (1) (i) of FERA r/w Section 49 (3) and (4) of Foreign Exchange Management Act . When questioned, the accused pleaded not guilty.