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TMI Blog2012 (12) TMI 675X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a dated 26.04.2011, in exercise of powers under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 (the Act) detained, inter alia, the Maserati car under and on the same day, handed it over to petitioner vide supurdarinama (or supradginama). Thereafter, by order dated 24.10.2011 the Commissioner of Customs (CC) extended the period for issuance of show cause notice for a further period of 6 months w.e.f. 25.10.2011 under Section 110(2) of the Act. On 09.05.2012, the fifth respondent, by panchanama cancelled the supurdarinama and took possession of the Maserati car. The petitioner seeks direction for quashing of the Panchanama dated 09.05.2012 and consequent order releasing the Maserati car. 3. In support of the claim, learned counsel Shri. Pradeep Jain for the petitioner urged that upon expiry of the period of one year from the seizure of the Maserati car, it was entitled to an unconditional release of the same. He pointed that this one year period expired on 25.4.2012. He placed reliance on J.K. Bardolia Mills v Dy. Collector and Ors 1994 (5) SCC 332 and Harbans Lal v. Collector of Central Excise & Customs 1993 (67) ELT 20 (SC). 4. The learned ASG appearing for the fifth respondent defended th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cts therefrom in the presence of an officer of customs. Section 110-A Provisional release of goods, documents and things seized pending adjudication. - Any goods, documents or things seized under section 110, may, pending the order of the adjudicating authority, be released to the owner on taking a bond from him in the proper form with such security and conditions as the adjudicating authority may require. .................. .................. .................. 124. Issue of show cause notice before confiscation of goods etc. - No order confiscating any goods or imposing any penalty on any person shall be made under this Chapter unless the owner of the goods or such person - (a) is given a notice in writing informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose a penatly; (b) is given an opportunity of making a representation in writing within such reasonable time as may be specified in the notice against the grounds of confiscation or imposition of penalty mentioned therein; and (c) is given a reasonable opportunity of being he ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose a penalty. Thereafter, an opportunity of making a representation in writing within such reasonable time is to be granted and a reasonable opportunity of being heard is also to be provided. However, this Section does not in any manner prescribed any time frame as to when the notice in writing is to be issued. In other words, there is no time limit prescribed for the issuance of such a notice as contemplated under section 124 (a) of the said Act. Now, looking at the provisions of Section 110(2), it is apparent that it relates only to the question of seizure of the goods. It clearly stipulates that if after the goods are seized under the provisions of Section 110 (1) of the said Act and no notice in respect thereof is given under Clause (a) of Section 124 within six months of the seizure of the goods, the goods are to be returned to the person from whose possession they were seized. The effect of not giving a notice within six months of the date of seizure is that the seized goods are liable to be returned forthwith to the person from whose possession they were seized. This is the total effect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 124 within six months of the seizure or confiscation of the goods. The procedure for confiscation of the goods can be resorted to if the goods are not provisionally released. If the owner in terms of Section 110-A applies for provisional release and an order is passed it can be said that the goods continue to be under seizure as the order under Section 110-A is a quasi-judicial order. Section 110(2) would not be operative. It is only in the case where no pro-visional order is passed for release of the seized goods and if no notice is issued under Section 124(a) for confiscation of the goods then only would Section 110(2) apply and the respondent would be bound to release the goods. Any other reading of the section would mean that a person whose goods are seized would seek a provisional release of the goods, get an order of provisional release, allow the authorities to proceed to believe on that basis that such person seeks to release the goods provisionally and on the expiry of the period of six months if notice is not issued under section 124(a) then contend that the terms for provisional release of the goods are no longer binding as the period of six months ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as spelt out in the clearest terms by the Supreme Court in Baru Ram v Parsanni AIR 1959 SC 93: "Whenever a statute requires a particular act to be done in a particular manner and also lays down that failure to comply with the said requirement leads to a specific consequence, it would be difficult to accept the argument that the failure to comply with the said requirement should lead to any other consequence" [See Maqbool Ahmad v Onkar Pratap Narain Singh AIR 1935 PC 85, Jagan Nath v Jaswant Singh AIR 1954 SC 210, Manilal Mohanlal Shah v Sardar Sayed Ahmed Sayed Mahmad AIR 1954 SC 349; M.I Builders v Radhey Shyam Sahu 1999 (6) SCC 464] . Thus, the effect of the statute, by virtue of Section 110 (2), is that on expiration of the total period of one year (in the absence of a show cause notice) the seizure ceases, and the goods which are the subject matter of seizure, are to be released unconditionally. There is nothing in Section 110-A to detract from this consequence. The public interest in injecting a sense of efficiency by mandating an outer limit to seizure orders, whenever the customs authorities contemplate an adjudication proceeding, is self-evident. But fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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