Confiscation without proof of illegal import and without notice cannot justify forfeiture of a vehicle or release security.

Confiscation of a truck under the Customs Act was stated to be unsustainable where customs had no independent material showing that the seized goods were of foreign origin or illegally imported, and no lawful presumption of illegal import could be drawn merely because the vehicle was first intercepted by police and then handed to customs. Security furnished for provisional release could not be appropriated where the financer had not been lawfully called upon to produce the truck and failed to do so, and the owner had not been given notice before confiscation. The confiscation and appropriation of security were therefore set aside.

---

---

Issues: Whether the confiscation of the truck and appropriation of the security furnished for its provisional release could be sustained in the absence of material showing illegal import of the goods, and without notice to the owner or a call upon the financer to produce the truck.

Analysis: The record did not show any independent inquiry by the customs authorities into the nature or origin of the seized powder. No material established that the goods were of foreign origin, and no lawful presumption of illegal import could therefore be drawn merely because the vehicle had first been intercepted by the police and later handed over to customs. The financer had only furnished security for provisional release and there was nothing to show that it was required to produce the truck for confiscation and failed to do so. The record also did not show that notice had been given to the owner before confiscation.

Conclusion: The confiscation and appropriation of the security were unsustainable and were set aside in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The challenge succeeded and the impugned customs action was annulled, with consequential relief as permissible in law.

Ratio Decidendi: Confiscation under Section 115 of the Customs Act, 1962 cannot rest on an unverified presumption of illegal import, and security furnished for provisional release cannot be appropriated unless the person concerned was lawfully called upon to produce the goods and failed to do so.

---