Customs Duty Evasion: Patiala House Court refuses to grant Anticipatory Bail to person allegedly involved in Duty evasion of about Rs.13 Cr [Read Order]

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The Patiala House Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to the person allegedly involved in Custom duty evasion of about Rs.13 Crores.

The applicant Vishesh Jain is the proprietor of M/s Essvee Marketing is indulged in importing plain white paper in rolls by suppressing the actual transaction value in the invoices with an intention to evade payment of appropriate duties leviable upon them.

During investigation, it was revealed that the actual value of goods imported by declaring as “Plain White Paper in Rolls” is USD 1683.5 per Metric Ton against the declared price of USD 550/600 per Metric Ton for the import made in the year 2019-2020. The goods were actually valued at Rs.3,85,89,279 instead of Rs.1,39,83,834 and the differential duty on the seized goods works out to be approximately Rs.59,43,370.

The duty evasion by M/s Essvee Marketing, Delhi in the import of white paper on rolls by mis- declaration of the value is estimated to be around Rs.13.0 crores at present. It is submitted that investigation in the present case is still in progress and if applicant/accused is granted anticipatory bail, there is every likelihood that he may try to influence the fair course of investigation, hence, the anticipatory bail application is liable to be dismissed.

The applicant has sought anticipatory bail on the grounds that applicant is aged about 31 years and has the responsibility of his family consisting of his wife and parents and he is the sole bread earner in the family.

It was submitted that the father of the applicant is suffering from Bi-polar disorder and suffering from prolonged bouts of paranoia and regular depressive episodes and there is no one in the family to look after and take care of his ailing father.

On the other hand, the revenue department while opposing the bail application urged that the instant application has been made by the applicant with a view to delay and discourage the investigation being conducted against M/s Essve Marketing, Delhi and the instant application is liable to be dismissed.

The court consisting of Dharmendra Rana while dismissing the bail application held that the case of duty evasion on account of under valuation needs a very deep and thorough probe as it is spread across spatial and temporal boundaries. The allegations against the applicant are serious in nature and in case if the applicant is armed with interim protection, certain vital aspects of the case at hand shall remain unraveled for all times to come and investigation shall be scuttled mid way.

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