Export confiscation under customs law failed where copyright-based import restrictions could not justify a prohibition on export.

Books seized in an export consignment could not be confiscated under the Customs Act merely on the basis of alleged copyright infringement, because the department failed to show a prohibition applicable to export. The Tribunal held that Section 113(d) and the copyright-based notifications relied on were directed to import-related restrictions and to importation of infringing copies under the Copyright Act, not to the export of the goods in question. As no valid export prohibition was established, the confiscation and penalties were unsustainable. The confiscation order and penalties were therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether books seized from an export consignment could be confiscated and penalised under the Customs Act on the footing that their export infringed copyright law and attracted the prohibitions relied upon by the department.

Analysis: The consignment contained books marked for sale only in specified countries, and a portion was intended for export to Nigeria. The confiscation rested on Section 113(d) of the Customs Act, 1962, read with the copyright provisions and the notifications said to arise from Section 11(2)(n) and 11(2)(u) of the Customs Act, 1962. The Tribunal found that the provisions invoked by the department were directed to import-related prohibitions and to importation of infringing copies under the Copyright Act, 1957. Since the department could not show a prohibition applicable to the export of the goods in question, the basis for confiscation and penalty was held unsustainable.

Conclusion: The confiscation order and the penalties were set aside and the appeals were allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: A customs confiscation under Section 113(d) cannot be sustained unless the prohibition relied upon is legally applicable to the export in question; import-oriented copyright restrictions and notifications cannot be used to penalise an export absence a valid export prohibition.

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