Section 110 of the Customs Act requires the proper officer to...

Section 110 of the Customs Act requires the proper officer to form and contemporaneously record objectively supportable reasons to believe that goods are liable to confiscation before seizure. For gold, Section 123 shifts the burden of proving non-smuggled origin only after a valid Customs seizure made in the reasonable belief that the goods are smuggled. A general panchnama recital, suspicion, foreign markings or high purity alone cannot substitute for pre-seizure reasons or corroborative evidence. Retracted statements require independent support and cannot retrospectively cure a deficient seizure. Where the statutory foundation is absent, the reverse burden does not arise; smuggling must instead be established through independent evidence. Seizure records should separately disclose the factual basis for the officer's belief.