Customs review power absent where a final confiscation order is reopened on a later licence

A Collector of Customs cannot review a final confiscation order in the absence of statutory review power. Where the importer did not challenge the original order, it attained finality, and a later licence not produced at the first adjudication could not justify reopening the matter, especially when it related to different goods. The subsequent order permitting clearance on that licence was therefore an impermissible review rather than a correction of an apparent error, and it was invalid.

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Issues: Whether the Collector of Customs had power to review his earlier order and permit clearance of the imported goods on the basis of an additional licence produced after the first order.

Analysis: The earlier confiscation order had attained finality as the importer did not challenge it. The subsequent licence relied upon by the importer was not before the Collector when the first order was passed, and it related to photographic colour paper, not to graphic art films. The later order, by which clearance was permitted on the strength of that licence, amounted to a review of the earlier adjudication. In customs adjudication, no statutory power of review existed for the Collector, and the later order could not be justified as a mere correction of an apparent error.

Conclusion: The Collector had no power to review the earlier order, and the subsequent order permitting clearance was invalid.

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