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TMI Blog1987 (6) TMI 204X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y. Ranjit Kumar, on 28-4-1974. On that occasion, in accordance with the family customs and traditions prevalent among the relations, six gold ornaments (i.e. gold tumbler, gold Kumkuma Bharina, gold plate, two gold Uggu Ginnelu, and one gold coin totally weighing 174.900 grams) were presented as birth-day celebration gifts by some of the relatives. These articles were subsequently found in the cradle of the minor and it was not known who has made the gift of these articles. There is no evidence to show whether all these articles were given by one person, or more than one person. 3. The income-tax authorities inspected the premises of the petitioner on 3/4-10-1974 and seized the said articles from his residence. The Central Excise Departmen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction 16(3) the position is that if any person who did not own, possess, hold or control, before the commencement of the Act, any quantity of gold in excess of the quantities specified in sub-section (5), acquires, after the commencement of the Act, the ownership (whether by succession, intestate, or testamentary or otherwise), possession, custody or control of any gold, such person shall, within thirty days of such acquisition or within such further period as the Administration may, on sufficient cause being shown, allow make a declaration in the prescribed form. 5. The provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 16 also will have to be considered in this case, under which it is provided that the declaration referred to in that Section, in r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rson to whom it belongs, it shall not be ordered to be confiscated but such other action, as is authorised by this Act, may be taken against the person who has, by such act or omission, rendered it liable to confiscation. (2) Where any package, covering or receptacle referred to in sub-section (1) contains any goods, such contents shall also be liable to confiscation. (3) Where any gold is liable to confiscation under sub-section (1) it shall be so liable notwithstanding any change in its form, and where such gold is mixed with other goods in such manner that it cannot be separated from those other goods, the whole of such goods, including the gold, shall be liable to confiscation. (4) On and from the commencement of the Gold (Control) A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 3 of Order No. 270/1980 it is stated that "the acquisition of gold articles except by succession is prohibited under Section 8(3) of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968. The applicant received 174 grams of gold articles as gifts in contravention of the provisions of above section........". Now it is clear that even according to the revisional authority, the petitioner received these articles on behalf of the minor to whom these gifts were made by the relatives. Once this position is clear, we find much substance in the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the proviso to Section 71(1) comes into play with full force. Under the proviso, if the articles belong to a person other than the person who has, by any act or omissio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... under which the articles in question have been confiscated and a fine of Rs. 1,000/- which has been imposed under Section 74-of the Act. We accordingly hold, in the light of the foregoing discussion, that the gold articles in question are not liable to be confiscated in this case, for the reason that the minor is the owner of the said articles. We also hold that the imposition of penalty of Rs. 1,000/- under Section 74 is also misplaced in the sense that, under Section 14, penalty is imposed on a person who, by his illegal action, renders the gold in his possession liable for confiscation. The penalty of Rs. 1,000/- imposed by the authorities is sustained under Section 75 of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968 to which a reference has already bee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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