Penalty abates on death, and minor export declaration discrepancies cannot justify confiscation of non-prohibited goods.

Penalty being punitive in character did not survive the death of the noticee, so the penal liability abated and was not recoverable. Confiscation of old and used teak wood blocks was also unsustainable because the record did not show the goods to be prohibited under the foreign trade regime, and a minor discrepancy in description, number, or weight was insufficient where there was no duty liability or revenue loss. The redemption fine and consequential penalty were therefore set aside, and the goods were allowed to be taken back for export.

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Issues: (i) whether the penalty imposed on the deceased noticee survived after his death; and (ii) whether the confiscation of the teak wood blocks and the consequential redemption fine and penalty were legally sustainable.

Issue (i): whether the penalty imposed on the deceased noticee survived after his death.

Analysis: Penalty is punitive in character and cannot continue against a person after death. The death of the noticee had already been acknowledged, and the penal liability could not be enforced in the absence of a surviving penal subject.

Conclusion: The penalty imposed on the deceased noticee stood abated and was not recoverable.

Issue (ii): whether the confiscation of the teak wood blocks and the consequential redemption fine and penalty were legally sustainable.

Analysis: The goods were found to be old and used teak wood intended for export, and the record did not establish that they were prohibited goods under the foreign trade regime. The variation in description, number, and weight was treated as not materially affecting the case, particularly when there was no duty liability and no revenue loss. Minor discrepancy or mistaken declaration, on these facts, was insufficient to sustain confiscation under the Customs Act.

Conclusion: The confiscation, redemption fine, and consequential penalty were set aside.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the adjudication order was annulled, and the exporter was permitted to take the goods back and export them to the Netherlands without warehouse charges.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods not shown to be prohibited cannot be confiscated merely for a minor declaratory discrepancy when the export attracts no duty and causes no revenue loss; penal liability also does not survive the death of the person penalised.

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