Customs, Excise and Gold Tribunal - Calcutta
Md. Sariful Biswas, Md. Mustafa, Md. ... vs Commissioner Of Customs (Prev.), West ... on 25 June, 2001
Equivalent citations: 2001(78)ECC175, 2002(148)ELT694(TRI-KOLKATA)
ORDER
Mrs. Archna Wadhwa
1. After dispensing with the condition of predeposit of personal penalty of Rs. 50,000.00 (Rupees fifty thousand) only imposed on each of the applicant, I take up the appeals itself with the consent of both the sides, as the issue involved lies in a narrow compass.
2. Vide the impugned Orders, 47 numbers of cattle belonging to all the four appellants have been confiscated absolutely and penalties imposed upon them on the ground that the said cattle were to be exported by the appellants to Bangladesh inasmuch as the same were intercepted by the B.S.F. Officers within an area of about 4-40 Kms. from the border and also at an odd hour.
3. After hearing Shri B.N. Chattopadhyay, learned Consultant for the appellant and Shri A.K. Chattopadhyay, learned J.D.R. for the Revenue, I find that the entire case of the Revenue is based upon an alleged offence about to be committed by the said appellants inasmuch as it is the Revenue's own case that had the B.S.F. Officers not intercepted the appellants they would have crossed the border and would have smuggled the buffaloes to Bangladesh. As such, it is seen that even according to the Revenue, no offence has yet been committed by the appellants, when they were intercepted. It is also seen that the cattle were still within the Indian territory. On the other hand, I find that the Commissioner (Appeals) has observed that the appellants failed to prove that they were not engaged in smuggling the cattle out of India. The above observation is placing a negative onus upon the appellants, which is not permissible under the law. On the other hand, there is no evidence with the Revenue that the cattle were in the process of being smuggled out of India. Accordingly, extending the benefit of doubt to all the appellant, I allow the appellant and set aside the impugned Order with consequential reliefs flowing from the said Order by extending the benefits to the appellants concerned. Stay Petitions also get disposed of.
Dictated in the open Court.