The government has empowered customs officials to exercise the power of a sub-inspector of police and to follow the Code of Criminal Procedures while investigating any offences under the customs act. Empowering the customs officials with the authority of police, the government incorporated a new provision in the Customs Act-1969 through the proposed Finance Bill-2016 tabled in the parliament on June 2. ‘An appropriate officer of customs may inquire into or investigate any offence under this act, and such officer, while conducting inquiry or investigation, may exercise any of powers of a sub-inspector of police and follow the procedures as laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898,’ the provision stated. Officials of the National Board of Revenue told New Age that there were no any clear provisions in the existing customs act empowering the customs officials to exercise the power of police while conducting inquiry or investigation into any offences. The act indirectly gives the customs officials the authority to only inquire into the offences under the act against the suspected person, they said. So, the government included the provision in the customs act to allow customs officials to conduct full investigation into the offences, the officials said. Now, the customs officials will be able to go through the procedures under the Code of Criminal Procedures, 1898 to investigate into, arrest and prosecute the person on charge of violating the provisions of the customs act, they said. There are 98 types of offences under the customs act and any person may face punishment for committing the offences. The offences include violation of customs matters including false declaration related to the rate of customs duty, under-invoicing, over-invoicing, quantity of products, nature of products, and origin of products in import-export activities, forgery, smuggling of contraband goods particularly narcotics, drugs, gold and explosives and trade-based money laundering. The customs officials have also power to arrest to any person for committing offences under the law.
