Kanpur trader Piyush Jain to pay more than Rs 4 crore customs duty on foreign gold
India Today
Perfume trader from Kanpur, Piyush Jain, was asked to pay more than Rs 4 crore customs duty on the foreign gold recovered from his house in 2021.
The Lucknow unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has asked Kanpur perfume trader Piyush Jain to pay Rs 4.38 crore customs duty on the 23 kg gold that was recovered from his home in Kannauj. The DRI filed this in reply to Piyush’s bail application in the district judge’s court in Kanpur on Wednesday.
The DRI's lawyer, Ambareesh Tandon told the court that the bunkers in Piyush’s house were built ten to twelve years ago in order to store gold and money. He added that Piyush had bought the gold in cash without paying tax.
The DRI stated that during his interrogation, Piyush had admitted to buying the gold without any documents. The agency opposed Piyush's bail application, saying it would encourage tax evasion in the country.
The district judge's court has fixed May 24 as the next date for hearing on the bail application.
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In December 2021, the Ahmedabad unit of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) conducted a raid at Piyush's Kannauj house and seized over Rs 195 crore in cash, 23 kilograms of gold and sandalwood oil worth Rs 6 crore. Of the 23kg of gold, 11 kg had a foreign mark. The DGGI admitted that this gold was smuggled from abroad.
During interrogations in jail, Piyush did not reveal to the DRI officials where he purchased the gold in India.
