- (1.) The Superintendent of Customs, Valsad, Gujarat has directed this Criminal Appeal on being aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court rendered in Criminal Revision Application No. 400 of 1979 allowing the revision and setting aside the judgment of the first Appellate Court confirming the judgment of the High Court convicting the first respondent (who was arrayed as accused No. 6) before the trial Court.
(2.) The respondent No. 1 along with seven others took the trial for the offence under Sec. 135(i)(b) of the Customs Act, 1962 on the following allegations : On the intervening night of 24th and 25th August, 1971 the Customs Patrolling Party on a tip off intercepted a jeep bearing Registration No. GDB 267. But the driver of the jeep apprehending some trouble stopped the vehicle at a safe distance from the waiting Customs Patrolling Party and thereafter the driver and inmates of the jeep escaped under the cover of darkness. The Customs Patrolling Party searched the abandoned jeep and found nine packages of wrist watches of foreign marks. The contrabands were taken into custody. After investigation, a complaint was filed before the Judicial Magistrate, First Class in the year 1975 which case was thereafter transferred to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, First Class at Valsad. Though according to the prosecution, there were seventeen persons involved in the occurrence, the complaint was filed only against nine as rest of the eight accused were absconding. Subsequently the case as against the second accused was withdrawn and he was put up as a witness on the side of the prosecution. Thereafter, as earlier pointed out, the trial proceeded only against eight accused inclusive of the first respondent who was arrayed as accused No. 6.
(3.) Though the prosecution examined several witnesses, it completely rests its case only upon two pieces of the evidence, namely, the evidence of P.W. 7 (who was originally the second accused in the complaint filed before the trial Court) and on the statements recorded from Al and A3 under Sec. 108 of the Customs Act.;