TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2002 (4) TMI 918
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.... Officer and Deputy Conservator of Forests, Kundapur, under section 71A of the Act. By order of the Authorised Officer dated 7th March, 2000 custody of the seized material and the vehicle was entrusted to the Range Forest Officer, Udupi as whereabouts of the driver of the vehicle and its owner were not known to the Authorised Officer. Attempts were made to get the particulars from office of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) concerned in the State of Kerala. Having failed to get any response from the RTO the Authorised Officer got published a notice on 31st August, 2000 for information of all concerned particularly, the persons interested in the goods seized. The notice was published in the daily newspaper 'Udayavani' on 18.9.2000. Nobody came forward to claim either the seized sandalwood oil or the vehicle. Thereafter the authorized officer by order dated 31.10.2000 ordered confiscation of the seized vehicle and sandalwood oil. The said order was published in the official gazette on 9th November, 2000 and also published in the newspaper 'Udayavani' on 15.11.2000. The order was not challenged in appeal under section 71-D of the Act or in any other proceeding. The order of confi....
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....od oil, such power could not be exercised by him. We have heard Shri Harish N. Salve, learned Solicitor General who has appeared on behalf of the appellant. None has appeared for the respondent despite service of notice. Before entering into the merits of the case, it will be convenient to note the relevant provisions of the Act material for the purpose of the case. The expression 'forest produce' is defined in section 2(7) as follows: "(7) "Forest Produce" includes-(a) the following whether found in or brought from a forest or not, that is to say-timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, (sandal wood) lootikai (Capparis Mooni), wood oil, sandal-wood oil, resin, (rubber latex) natural varnish, bark, lac, mahua or ippe (Bassia latifolia) flowers and seeds, seed of Prosopis juliflora, kuth, and tembumi or tupra (Diospyros Melanoxylon) leaves, rosha (Cymbopogon Martini) grass and oil and myrabolams (Terminalia Chebula, Terminalia Belerica and (Phyllanthus Emblica, Ramapatre and Shigakai) and (emphasis supplied) xxx xxx xxx The expression 'sandalwood' is defined in section 2(18) which provision was substituted by ....
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.... Provided that when the forest produce with respect to which such offence is believed to have been committed is the property of Government, and the offender is unknown, it shall be sufficient if the officer makes, as soon as may be, a report of the circumstances to his official superior. (emphasis supplied)" Section 65 of the Act makes provision regarding forfeiture of various forest produce, tools etc. It states : "65. Forest produce, tools, etc., when liable to foreiture-(l) It is provided in the section that all timber or forest produce which is not the property of Government and in respect of which a forest offence has been committed and all tools, boats, vehicles and cattle used in committing any forest offence, shall, subject to Section 71-G, be liable by order of the convicting Court to forfeiture to the State Government. (2) Such forfeiture may be in addition to any other punishment prescribed for such offence. In Section 66 of the Act a provision is made regarding disposal, on conclusion of trial for forest offence, of produce in respect of which it was committed. Therein it is laid down that when the trial of....
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.... not being below the rank of an Assistant Conservator of Forests (hereinafter referred to as the authorized officer). (2) Where an authorized officer seizes under sub-section (1) of Section 62 any timber, ivory, firewood [Gulmavu (machilus marantha) bark, Dalchini bark, Halmaddi (exudation of Ailanthus Malabaricum), canes] bark, and charcoal which is the property of the State Government or any sandalwood or where any such property is produced before an authorized officer under subsection (1) and he is satisfied that a forest offence has been committed in respect of such property, such authorized officer may, whether or not a prosecution is instituted for the commission of such forest offence, order confiscation of the property so seized together with all tools, ropes, chains, boats, vehicles and cattle used in committing such offence. (3) (a) Where the authorized officer, after passing an order of confiscation under sub-section (2), is of the opinion that it is expedient in the public interest so to do, he may, order the confiscated property or any part thereof to be sold by public auction. (b) Where any confiscated property is sold, as aforesaid, the proceeds thereof, aft....
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....ave and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974) or in any other law for the time being in force, any other officer, Court, Tribunal or authority shall not have, jurisdiction to make orders with regard to the custody, possession, delivery, disposal or distribution of such property." (emphasis supplied) From discussions in the order under challenge it appears that the High Court in para 4 of the judgment has taken note of the definition of 'forest produce' in section 2(7), in which the expressions 'sandalwood' and sandalwood oil are separately mentioned in the inclusive definition. Taking note of the provisions of section 62(3) clauses (a) and (b) the High Court observed that while clause (a) requires report to be made to the Authorised Officer under Section 71-A in respect of seizure of timber, ivory, firewood or charcoal which is the property of the State Government or in respect of sandal wood, in other cases, under clause (b), reporting is to be made to the jurisdictional Magistrate. The Court further observed that so far as confiscation proceeding is concerned, Section 71-A confines it ....
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....d in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Authorised Officer 'sandalwood oil' is not mentioned therein. Since the two terms have been separately mentioned in the inclusive definition of the term 'forest product' the Court drew the inference that the power for interim custody of the vehicle is to be exercised only by the Jurisdictional Magistrate and not the Authorised Officer. The High Court failed to take note of the definition of the expression 'sandalwood' in section 2(18) of the Act in which 'sandalwood oil' has been included within the term 'sandalwood'. It follows that wherever the term 'sandalwood' is used under the Act it has to be understood in terms of the definition in section 2(18). If the provisions relating to power of confiscation in Sections 71-A, 71-C, 71-D and bar of jurisdiction in Section 71-G are so read it is clear that 'sandalwood oil' is also included within the purview of the said sections and the distinction between the two terms and their specific inclusion or exclusion in the statutory provision does not exist. Perhaps the attention of the High Court was not drawn to the amended provisions of the Act. The Karnataka Forest Act is a special statute enacted....