- (1.) HAVING heard the learned Counsel for the parties, the application for amendment dated 16th January 1997 is granted. Amendment to be carried out forthwith. By consent, heard all the Counsel on all the contentions including the contentions raised by way of amendment.
(2.) THIS petition is by the brother of the detenu Ram Avtar Gupta challenging the order at Exhibit "a" dated 4th March 1996 issued by the 2nd respondent-Shri K. L. Verma, Joint Secretary to the Government of India who was specially empowered under section 3 (1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (for short "cofeposa Act" ). Under the said order dated 4th March 1996 the detenu has been ordered to be detained for a period of one year with a view to preventing him from smuggling goods and also from abetting smuggling of goods in future. A few relevant facts necessary for the purpose of this judgment may be stated.
(3.) INTELLIGENCE was received by the officers of the Marine Preventive Wing of the Customs Preventive Commissionerate, Mumbai to the effect that certain exporters of textile fabrics were indulging in large scale fraudulent misuse of the Duty Exemption Entitlement Certificate Scheme (DEEC Scheme) misdeclaring their blend/composition of polyester fabrics and inflating the weight of the consignments. They also used to fabricate the documents to show higher exports without either having made the exports physically or having made exports of a much lesser value and thus receiving Advance Import Licences claiming to have fulfilled the export obligation under the said DEEC Scheme. Consequently, such exporters used to obtain higher and inflated entitlement of duty free imports of polyester filament and yarn. Such Import Licences were then sold in the open market where they were bought at premium. Such licences are transferable. In short, by fraudulent means, licences for duty free import of polyester filament/yarn were being obtained for a much higher amount than what one was entitled to.;