Customs inquiry powers under Section 108 are distinct from police investigation; magisterial permission was not required to proceed

Customs inquiry under Section 108 of the Customs Act does not require magisterial permission or attract automatic application of Section 155(2) CrPC merely because customs offences are non-cognizable. The appellate court held that statements recorded by gazetted customs officers are part of a statutory customs inquiry, distinct from police investigation, and that such inquiry is not curtailed by treating it as a judicial proceeding under Sections 193 and 228 IPC. On that basis, the restraint on the Customs authorities from proceeding under Section 124 was unsustainable and was set aside in favour of Revenue.

---

---

Issues: Whether the trial court was justified in restraining the Customs authorities from proceeding under Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962 on the footing that magisterial permission was required before continuing the enquiry.

Analysis: The challenge turned on the scope of the Customs ' powers during enquiry and whether the non-cognizable nature of offences under customs law attracted the procedure under Section 155(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The order under appeal proceeded on the basis that enquiry under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 is a judicial proceeding for the purposes of Sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and therefore further steps under Section 124 could not be taken without leave of the Court. The appellate court held that this reasoning was erroneous. It noted that Section 108 confers power on gazetted customs officers to summon persons and record statements, that such inquiry does not contemplate magisterial intervention, and that statements recorded by customs officers are distinct from police investigation under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The fact that customs offences are non-cognizable did not mean that Section 155(2) of the Code automatically curtailed the powers conferred by Chapter XIII of the Customs Act, 1962.

Conclusion: The restraint against the Customs authorities was unsustainable, and the direction preventing recourse to Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962 was set aside in favour of Revenue.

---