Informer reward denied where contraband was recovered and handed over without information leading to seizure.

Informer rewards under the customs notification were confined to cases where seizure or detection resulted from information supplied to the department. On the facts, the petitioners merely salvaged contraband from a capsized boat and handed it to Customs; that act did not amount to furnishing information in the legal sense required by the notification. The High Court therefore held that the claim fell outside the reward scheme and declined to issue a writ of mandamus compelling payment, while observing that the department could consider ex gratia relief.

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Issues: Whether the petitioners, who salvaged contraband goods from the sea and handed them over to the Customs authorities, were entitled to reward as informers under the relevant notification, and whether a writ of mandamus could be issued for such payment.

Analysis: The notification contemplated rewards to informers where seizure or detection resulted from information supplied to the department. On the facts found, the petitioners did not furnish information leading to seizure; they themselves recovered the bundles from a capsized boat and delivered them to the authorities. Since no information was given to the department in the legal sense required by the notification, the claim for reward did not fall within its scope. The Court also declined to exercise writ jurisdiction to compel payment on these facts, while noting that the department could consider ex gratia payment.

Conclusion: The petitioners were not entitled to reward as informers, and the request for mandamus was rejected.

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