New Delhi March 27, 2021: The Special Judge for CBI Cases, Mumbai has convicted six accused under relevant sections of IPC including conspiracy, cheating, forgery, etc for customs duty evasion under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book(DEPB) scheme.
The Court sentenced Smt. Snehalata Samdarshi Jaiswal(private person) to undergo 3 years Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of Rs. 3.80 crore; Ramesh Suraj Bax Singh(private person) to undergo 2 years Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of Rs.4.50 lakh; Kiran Narhari Cheulkar(private person) to undergo 2 years Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of Rs.4.50 lakh; Shri Pradeep Babulal Sanghavi(private person) to undergo 2 years Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of Rs.4.50 lakh and Shri Suresh Kumar Jain(private person) to undergo one-year Rigorous Imprisonment with fine of Rs.3 lakh. A fine of Rs.3 lakh was also imposed on accused firm M/s KMP Syntex Pvt. Ltd upon conviction. The Court has also directed that the amount lying in the account of accused Smt. Snehalata Samdarshi Jaiswal in Central Bank of India, Mumbai be credited into the Government Account after the expiry of the appeal period.
CBI had registered the case on 21.09.1999 against the accused on a complaint. It was alleged that the said accused in connivance with the Appraiser Officer of Customs Department, Navi Mumbai obtained 18 Duty Entitlement Pass Book(DEPB) scrips from Director General of Foreign Trade(DGFT), Mumbai for duty-free import in the name of 4 non-existing fictitious companies by submitting forged shipping bills and forged bank realizing certificate to the office of DGFT, Mumbai & New Delhi. A loss of Rs.4.72 crore(approx.) was caused to the Government Exchequer.
After investigation, CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused. The Trial Court found the said accused guilty and convicted them. The other accused, Shri Abhinav Singh, then Appraiser Officer of Customs Department, Navi Mumbai was absconding and declared Proclaimed Offender by the Court. He was allegedly practicing as a Doctor in Agra with a fictitious degree and was hiding his real name. He was arrested by CBI after vigorous efforts. A supplementary charge sheet was filed against him. The Court had earlier(03.07.2020) sentenced him to undergo Simple Imprisonment for 16 months with the fine of Rs.9,00,000.