DAMODAR LAL Vs. ASSISTANT COLLECTOR CENTRAL EXCISE AND CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON August 20, 1966, the accused-petitioner, Damodar Lal was travelling in a train with gold bars bearing foreign marks. These bars were seized and recovered from his possession. Prosecution was launched against him under Section 135 (b) of the Customs Act read with Rule 126 (p) (2) of the Defence of India Rules. ON the application of the then Assistant Collector, Central Excise and Customs complainant, his personal presence was exempted by the learned Magistrate Shri Om Prakash. In the course of the proceedings the statements of two witnesses namely, M. R. Sachdeva and Prem Kumar, were recorded. ON May 31, 1977, neither the complainant nor his counsel appeared before the Court. The learned Magistrate took exception to the conduct of the prosecution in not attending the Court regularly and dismissed the complaint in default by his order dated May 31, 1977.

(2.) AGGRIEVED of the above order passed by the learned Magistrate, Shri Om Prakash, the department went up in revision. This revision petition was filed by the succeeding Assistant Collector, Central Excise and Customs, Shri Gandharb Bhushan. The learned Sessions Judge after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, held the impugned order of the learned Magistrate improper. Consequently he set aside the order of discharge and remanded the case for further trial.

(3.) INDIA has been facing an economic crisis and gold smuggling has had a disastrous impact on the State's efforts to stabilize the country's economy. Smugglers, hoarders, adulterators and others of their ilk have been busy in their under-world because the legal hardware has not been able to halt the invisible economic aggressor inside. The ineffectiveness of prosecutions in arresting the wave of white-collar crime and undue softness of Magistrate in our country must disturb the Judges' conscience. The offence for which the petitioner is being prosecuted is typical. The so called respectable persons tempted by the heavy pay-off face the perils of the law and hope that they could smuggle on a large scale and even if struck by the court they could get away with a light blow or by the inefficiency and lethargy of the prosecution agency in bringing the witnesses to the Court.