CESTAT holds Suspicion Cannot Sustain Customs Penalty Without Corroborative Evidence

The Tribunal found that the Department had failed to establish that the deceased Customs Hawaldar had aided the smuggling merely because calls were made to the Superintendent and a mobile number associated with the alleged syndicate was traced to his native locality. 

In the absence of any incriminating seizure or reliable corroboration connecting him to the smuggling, the penalty under Section 112(a) could not be sustained.