Homologation certificate requirement upheld for first-time car imports; confiscation and penalties sustained under Customs law.

Import of a new type of car into India for the first time required compliance with the homologation requirement, and the importer's failure to produce the requisite certificate justified confiscation under Customs law. The argument that the motor vehicle rules did not apply to an individual importer was rejected because the compliance obligation attached to the import itself. Confiscation and consequential penalties were therefore sustained, and the appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether the imported car was liable to confiscation for want of a homologation certificate and whether the requirements under the motor vehicle rules were inapplicable to an individual importer.

Analysis: The import of a new type of car had to satisfy the homologation requirement when the vehicle was imported into India for the first time. The appellant was unable to produce the requisite certificate. On these facts, the confiscation ordered under the Customs law could not be faulted, and the objection that the requirement did not apply to an individual importer was rejected.

Conclusion: The confiscation and consequential penalties were sustained, and the appeal failed.

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