P. RANGIAH CHETTY Vs. UNION OF INDIA (UOI)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Crl. R.C. Nos. 1243 and 1244 of 1973 arise out of a common judgment rendered against the Petitioners in both the cases, who were accused Nos. 1 and 2 in C.C. No. 3600 of 1973 on the file of the Court of the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Egmore. Crl. R.C. 274 of 1974 is one filed by the Union of India represented by the Assistant Collector of Customs, Preventive Department, Madras -1, for enhancement of the sentence imposed by the Chief Presidency Magistrate against the Petitioners in the abovesaid two revision petitions, in C.C. 3600 of 1973.

(2.) For the sake of convenience, in this order I shall refer to the Petitioners in Cr.R.C. 274 of 1974 as the complainant.

(3.) The complainant filed a private complaint against the two accused, viz., B. Rangaiah Chetty (accused -1) and S. Ahmed Yasin (accused -2) for offences punishable under Sec. 135 of the Customs Act and Sec. 85 of the Gold Control Act. The allegation against the first accused is as follows: On 9th December, 1970, at about 4 -45 p.m., he was intercepted, by the officers of the Customs Department at the State Transport Express Bus Stand, Esplanade, when he was about the board the but bound for Madurai. He was taken to the Traffic Manager's room where he was searched. The search revealed a cloth belt tied around his waist underneath his under -wear which on examination was found to contain eleven bars of gold of foreign origin in two paper packets. He had no licence or permit entitling his legal possession of the contraband goods. The further case of the prosecution is that on the information furnished by this accused, the officers of the Customs House, Mad as searched a portion in the second floor of premises No. 13, Post Office Street, George Town, Madras, in the occupation of the second accused, at 10 -30 p.m. on the same day, and during the search, the second accused was not present in the house. The search resulted in the recovery of 25 bars of gold of foreign origin wrapped in a newspaper and underneath the mattress of a steel cot and the second accused had no permit or licence or any other document entitling his legal acquisition of the said contraband goods. The prosecution has examined five witnesses and recorded common evidence as both of them were tried together. P.W.1 is a Preventive Officer attached to the Madras Customs House. He speaks about the interception and search of the first accused. It is his evidence that the first accused bad three Express Bus Tickets (M.O.3 series) for travelling from Madras to Trichy with his mother and his younger brother, and that he was wearing a cloth belt (M.O.1) from which the paper packets containing 11 gold bars of foreign origin marked as M.O.2 series were recovered. As the first accused was not in possession of any permit or licence entitling his legal possession of the said M.O.2 series, P.W.1 seized M.O.1 to 3 series under a mahazar Ex. P -2 in a reasonable belief that they were smuggled goods. P.W.2 and one Thiru Edward Thambi have both attested the search -list Ex.P -1 and the mazhazar Ex.P.2. Further, it is the evidence of P.W.1 that he took accused -1 with the material objects recovered, to the Customs House where accused -1 himself has written down a statement Ex.P.7 in English and handed it over to P.W.1 after having signed it. M.O.2 "series were sent to the Chemical Examiner for test, under a memo, by P. W. 5. Ex.P -11 is the report of the Chemical Examiner.