Confiscated gold ornaments cannot be ordered returned by a criminal court when special statute remedies govern disposal.

Where seized gold ornaments have already been validly confiscated in adjudication under the Gold (Control) Act, a criminal court cannot ignore that special-statute order and direct their return in criminal proceedings. The confiscation made by the competent excise authorities must be given effect, and any challenge to it must be pursued through the remedies provided by the Act rather than by a contrary criminal court order. The Magistrate's direction for return of the property was therefore set aside, and the confiscation order was allowed to prevail.

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Issues: Whether the criminal court could direct return of the seized gold ornaments when they had already been confiscated in adjudication proceedings under the Gold (Control) Act.

Analysis: The property in question had been validly confiscated by the excise authorities in proceedings under the special statute. Once such confiscation had been made under the governing law, the criminal court could not ignore the adjudicatory order and issue a contrary direction regarding disposal of the property. The proper course was to leave the confiscation order to be dealt with under the remedies provided by the Act, and not to interfere with it in the criminal proceeding.

Conclusion: The direction of the Magistrate for return of the property was set aside and the confiscation order was allowed to prevail.

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