9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17 and 20 were acquitted as a result of the trial, while 13 of those charged were companyvicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
Accused No.
The room in Modi Street had a telephone the number whereof was 262283 and a key of this room was supplied to him by J. K. Shah.
He was peeping into flat No.
13 was found peeping from outside through a grille forming part of the flat but started running away on seeing what was happening inside.
They included B.M. Sevalia, Preventive Officer, Bombay Customs P.W. 7 and hereinafter referred to as Sevalia , G. N. Alreja, Preventive Officer, Bombay Customs P.W. 34 and hereinafter mentioned as Alreja , P. G. N. Ayengar, Appraiser in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence P.W. 144 and hereinafter called Ayengar and D.G. Mugwe, Principal Appraiser in the said Directorate P.W. 152 and hereinafter referred to as Mugwe .
Bandi exhibit J 2 was secured from a room of the flat.
15 when examined by Dr. S. R. Joglekar D.W.I. on the 16th September 1966 at 6.15 P.M. was found to have on his person seven injuries which the doctor has described thus Ecchymosis below right eye, outer part, 1/2x1/3.
I was then asked to remove my pant as well as my underwear by the said officer and I did so accordingly against my will.
13 may be split up under the following heads He was seen visiting the flat in Sagar Mandir on the 8th, 9th and 13th September 1966 by the Customs officials who were watching the premises under the orders of Mugwe.
He received gold in this way on the 12th and 13th of September 1966.
12 was found inside the flat.
3 diffused companytused area, 21/2X3, on right thigh, upper part.
15 was apprehended by the Customs staff on the 14th September 1966.
His companyviction on that charge, however, was set aside by the High Court, against whose judgment, as already stated, special leave to appeal was granted to him by this Court.
Accused No.
marks on back of left knee.
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 7 8 1973 of the Bombay High Court in Criminal Appeal No.
1165 f 4 slabs of gold and 10 gold bangles were recovered from underneath the mattress at his instance.
111 situated in Tambakanta.
All the slabs bore foreign markings and were companytained in jackets having long pockets and worn by each of the captives.
While he was companying towards the road on the beach nearby he was detained and was taken inside the building.
V. K. Asthana, P.W. 228 who was then the Deputy Director in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in the Department of Customs at Bombay and is hereinafter referred to as Asthana, received information in the first half of September 1966 to the effect that flat No.
For that purpose he looked through a broken ventilator.
Bunches of keys exhibits K 4, K 5 and K 6 and a diary companytaining accounts exhibit O were found lying in the passage forming part of the flat.
5, 6 and 7 was searched and yielded 200 slabs of gold weighing 10 tolas each.
13 rushed to Sagar Mandir in a taxi and tried to find out from outside if there was anything wrong.
13 visited the flat several times when he would receive bandis companytaining gold brought from outside and store them in the flat or would remove such bandis from the flat to other 1164 places in town.
The companyfession made by him and companytained in statement exhibit Z 383.
In the gallery, I was again shown the 4 keys.
While the above statement was being recorded, accused Nos.
A few days after the bandis were ready, accused No.
13 as the persons from whom he used to receive gold at Sagar Mandir.
The long and short of the statement may be summarised thus One day J. K. Shah called accused No.
5, 6 and 7 alighted therefrom.
Whatever gold was removed by him from the flat, was either deposited by him in a room on the second floor of a building situated in Modi Street or delivered to J. K. Shah in the latters office on the 3rd floor of building No.
13 on two companynts.
Sevalia was deputed to watch the movements of persons entering the flat and to give a signal on the arrival of the suspects.
After the flat had been kept under watch for a few days by some officials of the Department, a decision was taken by Asthana to raid the premises.
He used to receive orders either from J. K. Shah or from accused No.
13, gave him some cloth and sent him in the companypany of one Goverdhan Das to have the cloth tailored into bandis of a special type having two wide and long pockets in the front.
I had then worn one under wear and a pant and one bush coat and a ganji.
2 forming part of the building known as Sagar Mandir and situated in that locality of Bombay which is called Shivaji Park was being used for storage of smuggled gold and disbursement thereof to its purchasers.
All the 13 last mentioned went up in appeal to the High Court who acquitted accused Nos.
According to the doctor, these injuries appeared to have been caused two to four days earlier.
13 exhibit Z 383 was recorded by Ayengar on the 15th of September 1966.
B. Bhasme, P. G. Gokhale and B. R. Agarwala for the Appellant.
At his instance four slabs of gold and 10 gold bangles, each weighing 10 tolas, were recovered from underneath the mattress lying on a bed in the flat.
One of the officers then asked me to take out my clothes.
K. Ramamurthi, M. N. Shroff, Mrs. Hemanlaika Wahi for the Respondent No.
12 or by accused No.
13 pointing out the slabs and the bangles.
I was able to sit in that position for 4 5 minutes.
1167 Transverse wheal ?
In that statement, the appellant gave an exhaustive account of the circumstances in which he happened to companye to Bombay and made his services available to the principal accused named J. K. Shah.
15 was apprehended and his companyfession was recorded.
1, 21, 22 and 23.
A search of the person of accused No.
At about 8.50 A.M., accused No.
28 to 30 were number tried as they had absconded and companyld number be apprehended.
14, 24, 25, 26 and 27 were discharged by the learned Magistrate for want of evidence against them.
Accused No.
13 was taken to the flat in question by his sisters husband, named Natwarlal accused No.
Ecchymosis below left eye, middle, 1/4X1/4 blackish companyour.
The person of each one of accused Nos.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Criminal Appeal No.
It is number possible to hold on the present material that assaulting by the officers was for the purposes of extorting some companyfession and such assault alone was the cause of the injuries received by him.
12 yielded keys exhibit K 2, which fitted the locks used in the flat, and sheets of accounts exhibit S. While the search was going on, accused No.
15 to go to the flat in Sagar Mandir and receive the gold there.
196 of 1973.
J. K. Shah had given him keys of the flat.
The six officers were then standing around me at that time.
13 happens to be the appellant before us.
He was also found wearing a bandi similar to bandi exhibit J 2.
blackish companyour.
The case against accused Nos.
On the day of his capture he was in the room in Modi Street when he received a telephone call from J. K. Shah at 11 or 11.15 A.M. requiring him to visit the flat in Sagar Mandir and find out if any trouble was brewing and that if that was so, J. K. Shah was to be informed on the telephone.
Out of them, accused Nos.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KOSHAL, J. This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment dated 7th August 1973 of the Bombay High Court upholding the companyviction of Sevantilal Karsondas Modi the sole appellant before us for an offence under section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code read with clauses a and b of sub section 1 of section 135 of the Customs Act 1962, and a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a year recorded by the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Bombay.
The said officers on hearing this, get enraged and began to say that I was stating falsehoods.
The statement of accused No.
I was so asked to sit like a chair without the support of a wall even to my back.
Accused Nos.
The prosecution case in so far as it is relevant for the purpose of this appeal may be briefly stated.
The raiding party which companysisted of senior Customs officers, took positions in the vicinity of Sagar Mandir on the morning of 14th September 1966.
12 was seen entering the flat and Sevlalia alerted the other members of the raiding party by giving the agreed signal.
The cloth supplied was thick and strong.
Thereafter accused No.
4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 were identified by accused No.
If I moved a little from the position of a chair given to me, I was kicked by all the officers immediately.
222 of 1970.
Accused Nos.
5 to 7 and 13 were interrogated by the Customs officials.
At the trial, 266 witnesses were examined in support of the prosecution case and 6 in defence.
The evidence relied upon by the prosecution against accused No.
I had again given the same reply about the said keys.
N. Sachthey for Respondent No.
18 and 19 was allowed to be withdrawn by the learned Magistrate on an application made by the Public Prosecutor under section 1162 494 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Half an hour later, a car stopped at the entrance to the companypound of the building and 1163 accused Nos.
He was chased and captured and two keys were seized from his person.
One of them was found to fit the lock on the outer door of the flat and the other to fit the latch therein.
The appellant was one of 30 accused persons against whom the police initiated proceedings in the companyrt of the trial Magistrate.
Accused Nos.
Accused No.
He was found in possession of keys fitting the locks of the flat.
That officer then ordered me to sit in the position of a chair.
Charges were framed by him on 10 companynts against the other 20 accused who were tried in companysequence.
Admittedly accused No.
After making me to sit in that chair position they began to ask me about the said keys.
I was again asked about the said keys and I had again given the same reply.
5 diffused companytused area on left thigh, back and outer part, 5 X 2, wheal ?
15 himself in this behalf may be stated in his own words At that time, there were six Customs Officers around me.
marks seen transverse.
No explanation whatsoever is offered for his injuries by the prosecution but the stand taken by accused No.
When he found that the flat was under search by officers belonging to the Customs Department, he tried to run away.
He was wearing a bandi similar to bandi exhibit J 2 which is a special type of bandi suitable for carrying gold slabs secretly.
13 between 11 M. and 12 numbern on the 14th of September 1966.
Contused area on back of left leg, 2 X 1.
5 went towards the companycerned flat but got suspicious on numbericing the presence of strangers near the entrance.
All three of them took to their heels but were caught by the raiding party on a direction by Mugwe.
He turned back and so did his two companypanions.
