Import licence conditions and "pet animal" exemption: mare not exempt, and confiscation without redemption option was upheld.

Imported mare was held not to fall within the ordinary meaning of "pet animal" because it was brought in for breeding under a business arrangement, so the baggage exemption did not apply and import control restrictions remained operative. A licence condition under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, read with the Imports (Control) Order, was treated as a prohibition in law; import without compliance made the goods prohibited goods for Customs purposes. Confiscation under the Customs Act was therefore sustainable, and no mandatory option to pay fine in lieu of confiscation was required on the facts.

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Issues: (i) Whether the imported mare fell within the expression "pet animals" so as to be exempt from import trade control restrictions under the baggage notice; (ii) Whether confiscation under the Customs Act could be made without offering an option to pay fine in lieu of confiscation.

Issue (i): Whether the imported mare fell within the expression "pet animals" so as to be exempt from import trade control restrictions under the baggage notice.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under Section 3(1) and Section 3(2) of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947, together with the Imports (Control) Order, 1955, required a licence or customs clearance permit for import of living animals. The passenger baggage exemption was held to be inapplicable because the mare was imported as part of a business arrangement for breeding and was not a pet kept by the appellant as a personal favourite or companion animal. The expression "pet animal" was construed in its ordinary sense as an animal domesticated and kept fondly by a particular person, not merely an animal of a class which can sometimes be kept as a pet.

Conclusion: The mare was not a "pet animal" within the exemption and was not importable without compliance with import control restrictions.

Issue (ii): Whether confiscation under the Customs Act could be made without offering an option to pay fine in lieu of confiscation.

Analysis: Section 2(33) of the Customs Act, 1962 defined prohibited goods to include goods whose import was subject to prohibition under that Act or any other law, unless the prescribed conditions were satisfied. Section 111(d) made such goods liable to confiscation, and Section 125 applied where import was prohibited. The Court held that a prohibition subject to licence is still a prohibition, and where the licence condition is not fulfilled the goods become prohibited goods. On that footing, the adjudicating authority was not bound to grant an option of redemption in every case, and the confiscation order was legally sustainable.

Conclusion: No mandatory option in lieu of confiscation was required on the facts, and the confiscation could stand.

Final Conclusion: The import was held to be unauthorised, the confiscation and penalty were upheld, and the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A prohibition subject to a statutory condition, including a licence requirement for import, is a prohibition in law for the purposes of confiscation provisions, and goods imported without fulfilling that condition are prohibited goods liable to confiscation.

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