9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (5) TMI 60X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oms Officers searched the residence and business premises of M/s. Central Typewriter Company and recovered several typewriters and calculating and adding machines. From some documents seized during the raid and statements recorded, it appeared that there was a conspiracy between the respondents and some of the crew members of certain vessels where it was agreed that the respondents would look after and maintain the families of the crew members in India while they were abroad, would advance them money and the crew members would draw their wages abroad in foreign currency and purchase with those moneys second-hand typewriters, adding and calculating machines and then bring them to India and deliver them to the respondents after clearance under the concessions provided in the Baggage Rules in order to circumvent the restrictions imposed under the Import Trade Control Regulations. It appeared that during the period 1961 to 1965 about 200 pieces of typewriters, adding and calculating machines had been acquired by the respondents for a sum of about Rupees one lakh and out of which forty-six had been sold. 3. The goods were seized on 5/7th May, 1966 and notices were due to issue under Se ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... against the respondents as were open to them in law. 7. The appellants now appeal to this Court insofar as the judgment and order of the Appellate Bench proceeds against them. 8. Section 110(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 provides that if the proper officer has reason to believe that any goods are liable to confiscation under that Act he may seize such goods. Section 110(2) provides :- "Where any goods are seized under sub-section (1) and no notice in respect thereof given under clause (a) of Section 124 within six months of the seizure of the goods, the goods shall be returned to the person from whose possession they were seized : Provided that the aforesaid period of six months may, on sufficient cause being shown, be extended by the Collector of Customs for a period not exceeding six months." Section 124(a), to which reference has been made in Section 110(2), provides that no order confiscating any goods or imposing any penalty on any person shall be made under Chapter XIV unless the owner of the goods or such person is given notice in writing informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose a penalty and is given an opportunity of maki ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r issuing notice under Section 124(a) of the Act should be extended beyond six months. That is how the appeal has come before us. 12. In Charan Das Malhotra (supra) the Court referred to the consideration that seizure was authorised under Section 110(1) on the mere "reasonable belief" of the concerned officer, that it was an extraordinary power and that therefore Parliament had envisaged a period of six months from the date of seizure for completing an enquiry on whether the goods should be confiscated and that if the enquiry was not completed within that period the goods must be returned. In some cases it is possible that the enquiry requires longer than six months, and accordingly power was conferred on the Collector, an officer superior in rank and also an Appellate Authority under Section 128, to extend the time subject to two conditions, that it did not exceed one year, and that sufficient cause must be shown for such extension. The Court observed that the Collector was not expected to propose the extension mechanically or as a matter of routine but only on being satisfied that facts exist which indicate that the investigation could not be completed for bona fide reasons with ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... scating the goods should be made or not. As more time is required for investigation, he applies for extension of time. The Collector must be satisfied that the investigation is being pursued seriously and that there is need for more time for taking it to its conclusion. The question is whether the person claiming restoration of goods is entitled to notice before time is extended. The right to notice flows not from the mere circumstance that there is a proceeding of a judicial nature, but indeed it goes beyond to the basic reason which gives to the proceedings its character, and that reason is that a right of a person may be effected and there may be prejudice to that right if he is not accorded an opportunity to put forward his case in the proceeding. In other words, the issue is whether there is a right in a person from whose possession goods are seized and which right may by prejudiced or placed in jeopardy unless he is heard in the matter. It cannot be disputed that Section 110 sub-section (2) contemplates either notice (within six months from the date of seizure) to the person from whose possession the goods have been seized in order to determine whether the goods should be con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... should not be extended he is not entitled to information as to the investigation which is in process. In such circumstances, the right of a person, from whose possession the goods have been seized, to notice of the proposed extension must be conceded, but the opportunity open to him on such notice cannot extend to information concerning the nature and course of the investigation. In that sense, the opportunity which the law can contemplate upon notice to him of the application for extension must be limited by the pragmatic necessities of the case. If these considerations are kept in mind, we have no doubt that notice must issue to the person from whose possession the goods have been seized of the proposal to extend the period of six months. In the normal course, notice must go to such person before the expiry of the original period of six months. It is true that the further period of six months contemplated as the maximum period of extension is a short period, but Parliament has contemplated an original period of six months only and when it has fixed upon such period it must be assumed to have taken into consideration that the further detention of the goods can produce damage or in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
