1978 (1) TMI 163

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..... g to exercise powers under section 110(1) of the Customs Act. Sub-section (2) of Section 110 provides that a notice under section 124(a) must be issued within six months of the date of seizure otherwise the goods shall be returned to the person from whose possession they were seized. The notice has to inform the person of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose pen .....

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..... is directly supported by the decision of the Supreme Court in Assistant Collector of Customs and others v. Charan Das Malhotra (A.I.R. 1972 S.C. 689). The Supreme Court in this case has held that the power under the proviso to section 110(2) is quasi-judicial and at any rate one requiring a judicial approach. While the power of seizure under sub-section (1) of Section 110 can be exercised on the b .....

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..... x months expired on 12th March, 1976. Now the Collector cannot, even if he wishes to adopt a proper procedure for extending the period to time, validly do so. The only alternative left to the Collector is now to return the seized goods to the petitioner. 5. In these circumstances the writ petition succeeds and is allowed. The impugned order dated 12th September, 1975 is quashed. The respondents .....

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