Court No. - 73
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 9567 of 2020
Applicant :- Mr. Nabi Ahmad
Opposite Party :- Union Of India And Another
Counsel for Applicant :- Sandeep Singh
Counsel for Opposite Party :- Govind Kumar Saxena
Hon'ble Siddharth,J.
Counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the opposite party no. 2 in the Court today which is taken on record.
Sri Govind Kumar Saxena, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 has pointed out that on the last occasion, he appeared in this case on 18.12.2020 but by mistake, his name was not mentioned in the order. Therefore, he has made a prayer that his name be mentioned as counsel for the opposite party no. 2 in this order.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Govind Kumar Saxena, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 and learned A.G.A. for the State.
Order on Criminal Misc. Exemption Application This exemption application is allowed.
Order on Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant, Nabi Ahmad, seeking grant of anticipatory bail against the summons issued u/s 108 of Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Noida Regional Unit, Noida.
Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that summons dated 03.11.2020 and 24.11.2020 have been issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Noida, Regional Unit, Noida against the applicant. He has next submitted that the summons have been wrongly issued against him on the basis of suspicion and has argued regarding the facts mentioned in the summons. He has further submitted that in case, he appears before the Gazetted Officer of the Customs, he may be arrested. He is willing to cooperate with the proceedings but he may be granted protection against arrest.
Sri Govind Kumar Saxena, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2, has filed counter affidavit on behalf of the opposite party no. 2 and has submitted that after specific intelligence input against the firm of the applicant was received, summons were issued to him. He has not appeared before the Gazetted Officer of the Customs till date and without his assistance in the enquiry, the real facts cannot be ascertained.
After hearing the rival contentions, this Court finds that Section 108 of the Customs Act gives power to summon persons to give evidence and produce document before any Gazetted Officer of Customs duly empowered by the State Government to produce a document or any other thing in inquiry. All persons so summoned are bound to attend such inquiry and it is deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of Section 198 and Section 228 I.P.C. Almost similar provision exist u/s 70 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017. In a case u/s 70 of the aforesaid act, this Court has granted anticipatory bail to the applicant vide Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application U/S 438 Cr.P.C. No. 4116 of 2020 for the reasons given in the aforesaid judgement.
In view of the reasons given in the aforesaid judgement, the applicant, Nabi Ahmad, shall be enlarged on anticipatory bail for a period of six weeks or till the inquiry is concluded by the Officer concerned u/s 108 of the Customs Act, whichever is earlier, on execution of a personal bond of Rs. 1,00,000/- and two sureties of the like amount before the Officer concerned on the following conditions :-
(i) The applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by the Gazetted Officer of the Customs as and when required;
(ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any officer;
(iii) The applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court and if he has passport, the same shall be deposited by him before the Gazetted Officer of the Customs concerned;
(iv) The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad;
(v) The concerned Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of Allahabad High Court and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
(vi) In case the applicant fails to appear on any date fixed by the Gazetted Officer of the Customs for any reason whatsoever, this anticipatory bail application shall stand automatically rejected and the protection given to the applicant will cease to have any effect.
If any unforeseen circumstances arise, the Gazetted Officer of the Customs would be at liberty to file appropriate application before this Court for cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the applicant.
The Gazetted Officer of the Customs will continue with the inquiry and will not be affected by any observation made in this order.
Order Date :- 5.1.2021 KS