Forger slapped Rs 20,000 fine after 15-year legal tussle
KOCHI: After an over 15-year legal fight for attempting to import a Toyota Land Cruiser with records and chassis and engine numbers that were tinkered with, a Kasaragod native has been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 by the economic offences court, here, for criminal intent to evade duty.
Abdul Kareem Poku of Ajanur was booked in 2007 after the intelligence wing of the customs found that he had imported the used car from Dubai on November 6, 2007 claiming that it was a 2000 model, when it was actually made in 2004.
Customs accused him of tampering with the records of the vehicle to evade customs duty. He was booked under Section 132 and (1) (b) of the Customs Act, 1962. The trial saw a technical team from Toyota Motors conducting a forensic examination of the vehicle to ascertain its manufacturing date. The team’s report revealed that the engine and chassis numbers had been tampered with.
In 2012, the Kerala High Court ordered that Abdul be allowed to take possession of the car from the seizure custody of customs on payment of a redemption fine of Rs 2 lakh and a penalty of Rs 1.5 lakh. Customs however decided to continue with criminal charges against him accusing him of criminal intent.
“The vehicle was released after he paid the duty and the fine. But the department decided to pursue criminal charges because he had tampered with the engine and chassis numbers with the criminal intention to evade duty,” an officer said.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Selmath R M on December 19 sentenced the accused to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 for the offence punishable under 132 of the Customs Act and Rs 15,000 for the offence under 135 (1) (b) of the Customs Act.