Customs seizure requirement limits Magistrate's power to transfer police-custody goods for adjudication under the Act.

Section 110 of the Customs Act presupposes a lawful seizure by the proper officer on the requisite belief that the goods are liable to confiscation. Where goods were first taken into police custody and no fresh seizure by customs had occurred, a Magistrate could not direct delivery of those goods to customs for adjudication under the Act. A request by customs to transfer custody did not amount to a statutory seizure, and such a direction would bypass the Act's seizure requirement. The direction to hand over the goods to customs was therefore without jurisdiction and unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the Magistrate could direct delivery of the seized goods to the customs authorities for adjudication under the Customs Act when no fresh seizure under the Act had taken place.

Analysis: The goods had initially been taken into police custody and were not seized by the customs authorities from the possession of an unwilling person. The statutory power of seizure under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 presupposed a seizure by the proper officer on the requisite belief that the goods were liable to confiscation. On the facts, the customs officer's request for transfer of custody did not amount to a seizure under the Act, and the Magistrate's direction effectively bypassed the statutory requirement. The goods were still with the police, and no lawful fresh seizure by customs had occurred.

Conclusion: The direction to hand over the goods to the customs authorities was jurisdiction and unsustainable; the petitioner succeeded.

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