Jurisprudentiol - Wednesday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.Customs

In present day circumstances, particularly for safety of passengers travelling by air, persons like appellants being in security staff can do anything for monetary consideration - appellants helping to smuggle foreign currency for consideration of few thousand rupees & mobile phones have rightly been imposed penalty u/s 114 of Customs Act, 1962 - leniency not warranted - Appeals dismissed: CESTAT

IN this case, the foreign currency was recovered from one Shri Iqbal Suleman while boarding a flight of Oman Airways to Dubai. Shri Suleman in his statement recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act named the appellants who helped him in taking the currency in the airport without disclosing to the Customs authorities for the consideration of Rs.4,000/-, i.e. Rs.2,000/- each. The appellants also in their statements recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act admitted the facts narrated by Shri Suleman. The appellants also admitted that they had received, on earlier occasions also, gifts from Shri Suleman such as mobile phones etc. The appellants being in the security staff of the Oman Airways are to look after security of the passengers. In the present case, the appellants helped Shri Suleman to smuggle foreign currency for consideration. In the present day circumstances, particularly for the safety of passengers travelling by air, the persons like the appellants being in the security staff can do anything for a monetary consideration.

Income Tax

Whether when assessee's shares are pledged only to raise loan, such an activity gives rise to capital gains, and difference between market value and face value is to be taxed - NO: Bombay HC

THE issues before the Bench are - Whether when assessee's shares are pledged only to raise loan, such an activity gives rise to capital gains, and the difference between the market value and the face value is to be taxed; Whether when only the right to use an asset is transferred for a fixed tenure, its consideration is to be spread over the term of its lease period as per AS 19 and Whether such a case is a fit case for invocation of revisionary authority u/s 263. And the verdict goes against the Revenue.

Central Excise

Search warrant issued in name of company which had stopped manufacturing activities but had not cancelled registration and had given factory on lease to another company - merely because other company carried on its manufacturing activities from same premises, same would not be ground to hold that entire search itself was invalid or without authorisation - Petitions dismissed: High Court

THE High Court noted that in none of the petitions any of the petitioners have made any personal allegations of mala fide against any of the Central Excise authorities; that none of the authorities have been named in the petitions who according to the petitioners were driven by personal grudge so as to victimise the petitioners through search operations; that none of the officers of the Excise department have been joined in the personal capacity in any of these petitions; that all these petitions have been filed almost a year after the search and there is no explanation on record as to why with such strong allegations of mala fide , the petitioners kept quiet for nearly a year.

See our columns Tomorrow for the judgements