SHRI AZAM SHAH Vs. CC

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this appeal, the challenge is against the imposition, by the Commissioner of Customs, of a penalty of Rs. 75,000 on the appellant under Section H2(b) of the Customs Act.

(2.) The appellant was one of the three occupants of the truck which was intercepted by Customs officers in the night of 4/5 March, 2001 on the Gorakhpur -Sonauli road. The other two occupants of the truck were the driver Shiv Achal Patel and the owner Virendra Pratap. The truck was coming from Sonauli, a place within the territory of India, near the Indo -Nepal border. On a thorough check of the vehicle, the officers discovered foreign origin computer parts bearing the marking 'Made in Phillipines' in secret cavities behind the driver's seat. On interrogation, the driver stated that the cavities had been constructed for smuggling of goods from Nepal; and that the computer parts found in the cavities were brought from Nepal. The officers, believing that the goods were liable to confiscation under Section 111 (d) of the Customs Act, seized the goods alongwith the truck.

(3.) Statements of Virendra Pratap and the appellant were also recorded. Later on, i.e. after about five months, a thorough search of the vehicle was again conducted by the officers when the vehicle was in the possession of one Shri O.P. Jaiswal who had purchased the same in auction. That search resulted in the recovery of miscellaneous foreign origin goods from a secret cavity discovered in the diesel tank of the vehicle. A statement of Shri Jaiswal was also recorded. The goods recovered this time were also seized.