Customs seizure and spurdari relief: High Court held Magistrate lacked jurisdiction to order release of seized property.

A Customs Officer is not a police officer within Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, because customs do not exercise the core investigative powers of a police officer or submit a charge-sheet under Section 173. The Customs Act also contains its own seizure, adjudication, confiscation, notice and return mechanism, so a Magistrate cannot direct release of goods seized by customs authorities before criminal proceedings begin. Inherent powers were also not exercised to order spurdari, as the deteriorating condition of the car was not treated as exceptional enough to justify such relief. The order directing release of the car was therefore set aside.

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Issues: (i) Whether a Customs Officer is a police officer within the meaning of Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure so as to authorise a Magistrate to order return of property seized under the Customs Act. (ii) Whether the Court should exercise inherent powers to direct release of the seized car on spurdari.

Issue (i): Whether a Customs Officer is a police officer within the meaning of Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure so as to authorise a Magistrate to order return of property seized under the Customs Act.

Analysis: The expression "police officer" in Section 523 was held to require strict construction and to mean a police officer properly so called. Customs Officers, although invested with some powers resembling those of police officers for limited purposes, do not possess the core powers of investigation and submission of a charge-sheet under Section 173 of the Code. The statutory scheme of the Customs Act also provides its own machinery for seizure, adjudication, confiscation, notice, and return of goods, indicating that the Magistrate is not the forum for ordering release of goods seized by customs authorities before criminal proceedings are launched.

Conclusion: A Customs Officer is not a police officer within Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Magistrate had no jurisdiction to order return of the car on spurdari.

Issue (ii): Whether the Court should exercise inherent powers to direct release of the seized car on spurdari.

Analysis: Inherent powers are to be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional circumstances. The deteriorating condition of the car, by itself, was not treated as a sufficient ground to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the Court in the facts of the case.

Conclusion: Relief under inherent powers was declined.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded, and the order directing release of the car was set aside because the Magistrate lacked jurisdiction to pass it.

Ratio Decidendi: A Customs Officer is not a police officer for the purpose of Section 523 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and statutory customs seizure and confiscation machinery excludes Magistrate-directed release of seized goods before criminal proceedings are initiated.

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