Mandatory notice before confiscation bars retention of seized goods where liability is not legally established.

Seized goods taken from a person's possession could not be retained where the mandatory notice under Section 124(a) was not issued within the time contemplated by Section 110(2). The statutory scheme required notice before confiscation, and in its absence the bar to continued retention operated in favour of the possessor. The confiscation also lacked a sustainable basis because the appellate finding showed that the alleged manufacturer had not been proved to have manufactured the goods or evaded duty. The confiscation was therefore unsustainable against the petitioner, and the seized goods were directed to be returned.

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Issues: Whether the seized goods were liable to be returned to the petitioner when no notice under Section 124(a) was issued within the time contemplated by Section 110(2), and whether the confiscation order could survive after the appellate finding exonerated the alleged manufacturer from contravention.

Analysis: The seizure was from the petitioner's possession, but no notice was served on the petitioner as required before confiscation. The statutory scheme made notice mandatory, and in the absence of such notice the bar to retention of the goods operated in favour of the person from whose possession they were seized. The appellate authority had also found that the alleged rolling mill had not been shown to have manufactured the circles and that no evasion of duty by it was established. On that basis, the goods in the petitioner's hands could not be treated as contraband, and the confiscation could not be sustained against the petitioner.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to return of the seized goods, and the confiscation orders were set aside to that extent.

Final Conclusion: The seizure could not be retained in the absence of the required notice, and the confiscation was quashed in relation to the goods held by the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Where goods are seized from a person's possession, confiscation cannot be sustained unless the statutory notice requirement is complied with and the seizure is supported by a legally sustainable basis for liability.

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