Limitation for the show cause notice ran from the first police...

Limitation for the show cause notice ran from the first police seizure on a smuggling allegation, so Customs could not extend time by treating the later transfer of custody as a fresh seizure; the notice was therefore time-barred and void. The purported Customs seizure also failed because reason to believe, the jurisdictional basis for seizure, was not shown on objective pre-seizure material. Section 123 did not apply because foreign origin was never established. The retracted custodial police statement was discarded for lack of independent corroboration, while family statements and the purchase receipt supported licit ancestral ownership. Confiscation and penalties under the Customs Act accordingly failed and the gold was directed to be released.

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