Export confiscation needs a statutory prohibition; shipping bill declaration was sufficient despite foreign markings on the goods.

Export confiscation cannot be sustained without a statutory prohibition or notification under the Customs Act, even if the goods bear a foreign stamp or marking. The shipping bill declaration that the goods were manufactured in India was treated as sufficient compliance with the export declaration requirement, and the absence of stamping on the fabrics themselves did not by itself establish a contravention of trade mark law. On the facts examined, the confiscation and penalty were held unjustified, and the export was not liable to penal consequences.

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Issues: Whether confiscation of export goods and imposition of penalty were sustainable where the shipping bill declared the goods as manufactured in India, the goods bore stamping indicating China, and no notification or prohibition under the Customs Act was shown.

Analysis: The export goods were examined and the statement of the director was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962. The declared description in the shipping bill showed manufacture in India, while the goods themselves carried a different stamp. The order of confiscation was found unsustainable because no notification under Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962 prohibiting such export was produced, and the goods were not shown to be specified prohibited goods. The declaration in the shipping bill satisfied Section 50(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, and the absence of stamping on the fabrics themselves was held insufficient to establish a contravention of Section 74 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958.

Conclusion: Confiscation and penalty were not justified, and the impugned order was set aside in favour of the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The export was not liable to confiscation or penal consequences on the facts found, and the appeal succeeded with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of a statutory prohibition on export and where the shipping bill itself contains the relevant declaration, confiscation and penalty cannot be sustained merely because the goods bear a different stamp or marking.

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