Detained goods and compounding refusal: release must be sought before the Magistrate once prosecution begins.

Goods detained for alleged contravention of record-carrying and transport requirements under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 may be released on payment of tax or security under section 42(3) only where the statutory conditions are satisfied. Where the prescribed authority invokes the compounding mechanism and the dealer refuses to compound, prosecution follows and the detained goods become part of the property involved in the offence. Custody and disposal then fall within the Magistrate's control, and any request for release must be addressed before the criminal court, not in writ proceedings.

---

---

Issues: Whether, after the dealer declined to compound the alleged offence, the goods detained under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 could still be released on payment of tax alone under section 42(3), and whether any direction for release could be issued in the writ proceedings.

Analysis: The detention arose from alleged contravention of the record-carrying and transport requirements under sections 40(3), 44 and the penal provisions in section 45 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. Section 42(3) permits release where the sale or purchase is properly accounted for and, where tax is payable, on payment of tax or furnishing of security. However, once the prescribed authority invokes section 46 and offers compounding, refusal to compound leads to prosecution. In that situation, the goods form part of the property involved in the offence and their custody and disposal fall within the control of the Magistrate before whom the prosecution is launched. Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was referred to only to explain that the criminal court can regulate custody and disposal pending trial.

Conclusion: The dealer was not entitled to insist on release of the goods by payment of tax alone after refusing compounding and facing prosecution. Any request for release had to be made before the Magistrate, and no relief was available in the proceedings.

---