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TMI Blog2016 (5) TMI 83X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... imported goods and the latter prescribes the penalty for improper importation of goods. It is possible for a provision providing for confiscation of goods to be liberally interpreted, but when a provision provides for punishment it has to be strictly construed. The expression “goods in respect of which any prohibition is in force" in the context of Section 112 of the Act would imply goods which are prohibited from being imported and not goods which have been smuggled into the country in contravention of the procedure established by law for the import thereof. Thus, while the corresponding provision in Section 111 of the Act permits the confiscation of the goods on a broader construction of the relevant expression with reference to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing pin of the instant smuggling operation and the petitioner in the second matter has been found to be the principal accomplice of the other petitioner. 4. The penalty in either case has been imposed under Section 112 of the said Act for improper importation of gold bars of foreign origin. The penalty that has been levied on the petitioners is on the basis of a clause in the relevant provision that permits a penalty not exceeding the value of the goods or five thousand rupees, whichever is greater to be imposed for improperly bringing into the country goods in respect of which any prohibition is in force under this Act or any other law for the time being in force . 5. The question of law that has been urged is as to whether the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the second matter did not respond to the several summons issued to him. 8. The facts are not much in dispute and the findings rendered in course of the order of adjudication as to the culpability of these petitioners have not been questioned. The only ground urged is that the penalty imposed on either petitioner on the basis of the value of the smuggled gold could not have been made as gold is not a prohibited item nor is the import thereof prohibited by virtue of any notification or order under the Act of 1962 or any other law for the time being in force. The petitioners assert that only the duty that may have been sought to be evaded on these smuggled goods could have been made the basis of assessing the penalty liable to be imposed o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... paid within thirty days from the date of communication of the order of the proper officer determining such duty, the amount of penalty liable to be paid by such person under this section shall be twenty-five per cent. of the penalty so determined; (iii) in the case of goods in respect of which the value stated in the entry made under this Act or in the case of baggage, in the declaration made under section 77 (in either case hereafter in this section referred to as the declared value) is higher than the value thereof, to a penalty not exceeding the difference between the declared value and the value thereof or five thousand rupees, whichever is the greater; (iv) in the case of goods falling both under clauses (i) and (iii), to a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oper procedure for import thereof and, thereby, evading the payment of duty thereon; but quite another to suggest that any illegal import of goods otherwise than through the proper channel and without paying the due duty thereon would amount to an act in derogation of any prohibition under the said Act or any other law in force. Sections 104 and 135 of the Act have been placed in such context to suggest that wherever prohibited goods are referred to in the said Act, it must necessarily be understood to relate to only such goods which are specifically prohibited from being brought into the country by the said Act or any other law. 11. The Union submits that when the import of any goods is permitted by the said Act or any other law in an p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r the Supreme Court considered the meaning of the expression contrary to any prohibition imposed by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force appearing in Section 113(d) and the expression subject to any prohibition under this Act or any other law in the definition of prohibited goods in Section 2(33) of the Act and concluded that if the conditions prescribed for import or export of goods are not complied with, it would be considered to be prohibited goods. In the later judgment, it was held that smuggled goods could not be regarded as imported goods. 14. There is a distinction between Section 111 and Section 112 of the Act. The former provides for confiscation of improperly imported goods and the latter pres ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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