9911796707
TMI Blog1987 (7) TMI 573X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Adakathvayal near Kasaragod and seized foreign exchange, namely drafts, traveller's cheques and currencies in U.S. $ and pound sterling of the value of U.S. $1,040.0 and £ 4,000.3 along with some letters and foreign goods. These documents and currencies were taken into custody and a list was prepared. The respondent was taken into custody by the Customs Officers and was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kanhangad. Subsequently he was handed over to the officers of the Enforcement Directorate for investigation. On 18-8-1971 the respondent had given a statement before the Superintendent of Central Excise & Customs Preventive. He stated that he was a car driver and the seized car was owned by him. He used to take p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en against the respondent and in those proceedings it was held that the respondent acquired the foreign currency of $ and £ shown in the list dated 18-8-1971 without the permission of the Reserve Bank and so he contravened the provisions of Section 4(1) of the FERA, 1947. Therefore under Section 23(1)(a) of FERA, 1947 a penalty of ₹ 50,000 was imposed on him. The seized goods were also confiscated under Section 23(B) of the said Act. In the appeal filed by the respondent before the Foreign Exchange Regulation Appellate Board this order was set aside. The order of the Appellate Board is being challenged in this appeal. 2. Learned Senior Central Government Standing Counsel, Sri P.V. Madhavan Nambiar, submitted that under Section ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ounsel for the respondent, Sri. S.A. Nagendran, submitted that the words "acquire and otherwise acquire" have been considered correctly in Kuppuswami Chettiar v. State and P.K. Renguntawar v. Dy. Director Enforcement (51 Company Cases 163). As per the latter decision the words "otherwise acquire imply positive possession and capacity for appropriation with regard to the item of property". According to learned counsel, the only evidence in these proceedings is the statement of the respondent dated 18-8-1971. Therein he only stated that the goods were handed over to him by strangers, to be handed over to some person at Modern Pharmacy at Kasaragod. He further stated that he did not examine the packages and did not know wha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uot;otherwise acquired" have to be given a meaning in the context in which it is used, which can only be identical with the meaning given to the words "buy" or "borrow". Therefore, we respectfully agree with the meaning given to these words by the Madras High Court as well as by the Bombay High Court, that interest in the property must have been transferred to the person in possession in order to attract Section 4(1) of the Act. 5. In this case there is no evidence that the respondent acquired any interest in the properties seized. 6. Under the circumstances, we do not think that there is any error in the decision of the Appellate Board. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. However, there will be no order as to c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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