LAXMI BAI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON the basis of secret information Respondent No. 2 Collector, Central Excise and Customs, New Delhi organised various raids at the residential premises of one late Shri Chhagan Lal Godawat in the town of Chhoti Sadri. These raids were carried out from 29.7.1965 to 14.8.1965.

(2.) CHHAGAN Lal Godawat is said to have died on 8.7.1973. Petitioner No. 1 is his widow and petitioner No. 2 is his son. During the aforesaid raids properties as mentioned in Schedule A annexed with the writ petition were seized. The search was also made at the premises of one Ratan Lal Nalwalia at Chhoti Sadri on 3.6.1965 and some documents are said to have been recovered from there. These documents are of the years 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1931 and late Chhagan Lal Godawat has admitted these documents.

(3.) FEELING aggrieved with the order of the Collector, an appeal was filed before the Gold Control Administrator, New Delhi and the appeal was dismissed on 6.3.1972 (copy placed as Annex. 2). Against the aforesaid decisions a revision petition was taken before the Government of India which came to be heard and decided by the Special Secretary (Finance) Government of India and an argument was raised there that under Rule 126(8) of the aforesaid Rules keeping in view the precedents of Maharani of Jaipur and Shri Ram Nath Goenka an opportunity should have been provided to redeem the seized gold on payment of nominal fine and that the penalty imposed was wholly illegal and could not have been imposed. The revision petition was dismissed by the Government of India on 3/4.6.1979. A copy of the order has been placed on the record as Annex. 3.