GULIA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH these bail applications may be disposed of by a common order as they arise out of the same criminal case. In order to appreciate the respective contentions, some relevant facts may be stated.

(2.) ON December 29, 1993 at about 5. 15 p. m. some persons were seen in suspicious circumstances at Indo-Pak border by the Patrolling party of the Border Security Force. They were chased by the Patrolling party and one of them namely, Bhure Khan, a Pak national, was arrested while the remaining persons succeeded in fleeing away. The statement of Bhure Khan was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act and he admitted to be a Pak national and to have brought gold biscuits and gold ornaments frorn Pakistan. He further stated that seeing the Patrolling party, he threw away the goods while running. ON search, three bags were recovered by the Border Security Force and the personnels of Customs Department. They contained 252 gold biscuits having foreign marking and ten pieces of gold. The total weight of the gold was 19. 5 Kgs. Other ornaments were also recovered alongwith the gold biscuits and pieces of gold. They were seized under section-110 of the Customs Act. From the statement of Bhure Khan it revealed that the smuggled gold biscuits/pieces of gold and ornaments were brought from Pakistan for the persons whose names were written on different packets. It may be stated that all these articles were in different packets containing names of some persons. The petitioners and other co-accused persons were arrested in the above case and they are now facing trial in the court of Special Magistrate, Economic Offences, Rajasthan, Jaipur for the charge under section 135 of the Customs Act.

(3.) I have given my careful consideration to the above submissions. A confessional statement of a co-accused is relevant under section-30 of the Evidence Act which runs as under : "sec. 30. Consideration of proved confession affecting person making it and others jointly under-trial for same offence - When more persons than one are being tried jointly for the same offence and a confession made by one of such persons affecting himself and some other of such persons is proved, the Court may take into consideration such confession as against such other person as well as against the person who makes such confession. "