1. In this stay petition a prayer has been made for dispensing with the predeposit of penalty of Rs.20,000/- imposed on Shri Ram Lal Sah of Raxaul under section 112 of the Customs Act, 1962 vide Order-in-Original No. 39-Cal/96 dt.19.4.96 of Deputy Commissioner of Customs(Prev.) INB, Mujaffarpur which was upheld by the Commissioner of Customs(Appeals) vide Order-in-Appeal No.172/PAT/Cal/Appeal/2000 dt.25.5.2000.
2. This is a case where silver bars were seized on the alleged ground that they were smuggled into the country. The seizure was made in the premises of Shri Sadashiv Bombaywala. At the time of seizure Shri Sadashiv Bombaywala stated that the silver bars were of foreign origin and the same were kept in his premises by Shri Ram Lal Sah. The Customs officers could not contact Shri Ram Lal Sah and as such his statement could not be recorded. However, the local silver dealers opined that the seized silver bars were of foreign origin. The adjudication proceedings initiated against Shri Ram Lal Sah and Shri Sadashiv Bombaywala resulted in absolute confiscation of the silver bars and imposition of penalty of Rs.20,000/- on Shri Ram Lal Sah. The adjudicating authority did not impose any penalty on Shri Sadashiv Bombaywala at that stage as Shri Sadashiv was not traceable. He, therefore, reserved his right to impose penalty on Shri Sadashiv at a later stage.
3. Aggrieved by the said order Shri Ram Lal Sah filed appeal before the Commissioner(Appeals), but with no success. Hence the present appeal before the Tribunal with a prayer for dispensing with predeposit of the said penalty.
4. Shri P.K.Ghosh, ld.consultant assisted by Shri S.C.Rudra, ld.adv., submits that there is no iota of evidence to show that the impugned silver bars were of foreign origin. The opinion obtained from the local silver dealers cannot be considered as an expert opinion. He further submits that immediately after seizure of the silver bars, Shri Ram Lal Sah submitted a detailed letter addressed to Deputy Commissioner, with copy to Collector and Astt.Commissioner, stating therein that the goods under seizure belonged to him and they are of Indian origin. There is no response to the said letter from the customs department. When a show cause notice was issued to Shri Ram Lal Sah he mentioned about this fact in his reply. However, the adjudicating authority has observed that Shri Ram Lal Sah has claimed the goods after about six and a half months which is not factually correct. The ld.consultant is quite emphatic that the department has no evidence to show that the goods are neither of foreign origin nor smuggled into the country by Shri Ram Lal Sah. He, therefore, pleads that there was not justification for confiscation of the said silver bars and imposition of penalty on Shri Ram Lal Sah is unjustified and unwarranted. Accordingly, he prays for dispensing with predeposit of the said penalty and grant of unconditional stay of its recovery.
5. Shri V.K.Chaturvedi, ld.SDR appearing for the Revenue, reiterates the reasoning contained in the orders of the authorities below.
6. After carefully considering the submissions made from both the sides and on careful perusal of the Order-in-Original as well as Order-in-Appeal, prima facie, I find that except the opinion of the silver dealers there appears no other evidence to substantiate the charge of smuggling. However, the entire record has to be gone through before coming to any definite conclusion. I, am therefore, of the view that ends of justice will be met if an unconditional stay as prayed for his granted to the applicants/appellants. Accordingly, I order waiver of the predeposit of penalty and also stay its recovery.