AMBA LAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE following Judgment of the court was delivered by

(2.) THIS appeal by certificate is directed against the order of the High court of Judicature of the State of Punjab dismissing the petition filed by the appellant under Art. 226 of the Constitution.

(3.) THE decision in regard to items 1 to 5 turns purely on the question of onus. THE Collector of central Excise as well as the central Board of Revenue held that the onus of proving the import of the goods lay on the appellant. THEre is no evidence adduced by the customs authorities to establish the offence of the appellant, namely, that the goods were smuggled into India after the raising of the customs barrier against Pakistan in March 1948. So too, on the part of the appellant, except his statement made at the time of seizure of the goods and also at the time of the inquiry that he brought them with him into India in 1947, no other acceptable evidence has been adduced. In the circumstances, the question of onus of proof becomes very important and the decision turns upon the question on whom the burden of proof lies..