Court sentences customs clearing agent to 2 years in jail for import duty evasion

A customs clearing agent was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for import duty evasion, while three other accused were acquitted due to a flawed CBI investigation.

A court here on Thursday sentenced a customs clearing agent to two years' imprisonment in four cases of import duty evasion.

Special CBI Judge Amit V Kharkar, however, acquitted three other accused including a government examiner, and criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation for its ''casual'' and flawed investigation.

Clearing agent Pradeep Rane was found guilty under Indian Penal Code section 420 for systematically cheating the Customs Department.

He was also asked to pay Rs 5,000 fine in each case.

As per the prosecution, in each case a local trader wanted to import mobile accessories from China, but lacked the mandatory Import-Export Certificate (IEC).

They approached Rane. Using the PAN cards, Aadhaar cards and photographs of unsuspecting persons, Rane registered front companies ''Heena Traders'', ''Saani Enterprises'', and ''M/s Sarika Enterprises'' to generate IECs.

The CBI claimed the accused caused a total loss of Rs 13.40 lakh in import duty to the government in the process.

While the court found Rane guilty, it let off other accused for lack of evidence.

''The Investigating Officer only collected the documents from the customs department, including the inventory, without himself verifying the consignment,'' the court said.

The judge noted that importing goods under a proxy IEC certificate is a serious threat to national security.

''The modus of examination would show that only 10% of the cargo was examined and, in such case, the modus could be exploited by nefarious entities to import consignments of prohibited articles by using proxy IEC certificate,'' the court said.