K S DESHMUKH Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 is the charging Section under which duties of excise are levied and collected on all excisable goods at rates set-forth in the First Schedule. Item 4 of the First Schedule includes tobacco in any form whether cured or uncured manufactured or not, and includes the leaf, stalks and stems of the tobacco plant and various rates of duties are set forth in the Second Column of the Schedule. Section 4 of the Act describes the manner in which the excisable goods are to be valued depending on the place of sale. Sub-section (2) of Section 4 takes care of the situation when excisable goods are sold at a place other than the place of removal. Under the old Rule 9 in force in 1978 no excisable goods could be removed from any place where they are produced cured or manufactured without payment or part payment of duties leviable thereon. However, under the extant Rule 152 et seq goods can be removed from one warehouse to another subject to certain conditions. Rule 153 requires the consignor or the consignee of the goods to enter into a bond in a sum equal atleast to the duty chargeable on such goods, for the due arrival and rewarehousing thereof at the warehouse destination. The consignor was required, under Rule 156 to produce a certificate in the proper form giving details of the Central Excise licences held by the consignee, to ensure that the goods are being dispatched to a person whose business having licensed can easily be checked and monitored.

(2.) The present appeal deals with the manner in which 14 consignments of tobacco were removed from Lalgidi in Tamilnadu allegedly for re-warehousing at Solapur in Maharashtra between 18-1-1974 to 23-3-1974 and the role of one K. S. Deshmukh, an inspector of Central Excise in that matter. Accused No. 1 K. S. Deshmukh, Accused No. 2 S. L. Deshpande, Accused No. 3 R. A. Manoki, all inspectors out of whom the last two have since been acquitted and Accused No. 4 Mohammed Ibrahim the consignor, since convicted, are alleged to have entered into criminal conspiracy to cheat the revenue by evading payment of excise duty on the pretense of removing the goods from Lalgidi to Solapur and were arraigned before the Special Judge, Greater Bombay, to face the charges under Section 120B read with Section 420 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code; Sections 5(1)(d) and 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act also read with Section 9(1)(b), read with Section 9(1)(d) and 9(1)(c) and 9(1)(d) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. As adumbrated above, Accused No. 2 and Accused No. 3 were acquitted. Accused No. 4 though convicted has not preferred any appeal and the appellant in this Court Accused No. 1 Deshmukh has been found guilty under the aforesaid Sections except Section 468 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to suffer two years' R.I. and to pay fine of Rs. 500/- or in default, to suffer three months' further R.I. on each of the above counts, giving rise to the present appeal.

(3.) In all 14 consignments left Lalgidi for Solapur and these consignments may be divided into three groups, the first being of the first five consignments. The first consignment was under D.P. 2 No. 597863, dated 11-1-1974 which left Lalgidi at 6.00 p.m. on 18-1-1974 and reached Solapur four days thereafter on 22-1-1974 in the morning. According to the prosecution, the consignments consisted of 144 bags out of which 136 bags actually arrived in Solapaur and were found in Swati Bungalow godown taken on hire by accused 4 Ibrahim. (The defence version about these 136 bags is different to which I shall advert later on). Remaining four consignments left Lalgidi on 20-1-1974 and arrived in Solapur on 25-1-1974. These four consignments were checked by accused 2 S.L. Deshpande because the appellant K. S. Deshmukh was on leave from the month of January 1974. As accused 2 Deshpande has been acquitted and the appeal preferred by the State against his acquittal has not been admitted, we will have to presume for the purposes of this appeal that consignments No. 1 to 5 did actually arrive atleast outside the Octroi Naka of Solapur Municipal Corporation.