Customs seizure certification under Section 110(1B) is an administrative function, not a Judicial Magistrate exercise.

Section 110(1B) of the Customs Act, 1962 was treated as creating an executive or administrative certification process for inventory, photographs and representative samples of seized goods, not an adjudicatory function comparable to a criminal trial. The absence of a deeming clause like Section 52A(4) of the NDPS Act, together with the distinction between judicial and executive functions under the CrPC, supported the view that such certification need not be handled by a Judicial or Metropolitan Magistrate. The application was therefore not maintainable before that forum and had to be pursued before the competent authority.

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Issues: Whether an application under Section 110(1B) of the Customs Act, 1962 for certification of inventory, photographs, and representative samples was maintainable before a Judicial/Metropolitan Magistrate or had to be placed before an Executive Magistrate.

Analysis: The application concerned the statutory procedure for seized goods under Section 110(1B) of the Customs Act, 1962. The Court noted that the provision does not contain any deeming clause comparable to Section 52A(4) of the NDPS Act, 1985, and therefore the Magistrate's role under the Customs Act is not to perform an adjudicatory exercise akin to a criminal trial. Relying on the authoritative line of decisions interpreting the word "Magistrate" in this context, and on the distinction drawn by Section 3(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 between judicial functions and administrative or executive functions, the Court held that certification of inventory, photographs, and samples is an executive or administrative function. The Court further treated the later Supreme Court order as settling the issue against the need for a Judicial Magistrate for this purpose.

Conclusion: The application was not maintainable before the Court and could not be entertained by a Judicial/Metropolitan Magistrate; it had to be pursued before the competent authority.

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