TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1986 (7) TMI 115
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....ld biscuits weighing 2088 grams, and of a probable market value of Rs. 4,32,216. 2. The petitioner had a different version about it; he disputes the mahazar wherein the seizure of the gold biscuits is indicated; he disputes the statements signed by him, as, according to him, they were obtained under coercion and pressure. 3. It is not disputed that the petitioner has been arrested, that he has been produced before the court trying the economic offences, and that the proceedings there continue to be pending. 4. The authorities have with them the passport of the petitioner. It was seized by the 3rd respondent, Superintendent (I.N.D.), Air Customs, Trivandrum. The Magistrate passed orders impounding the passport. The petitioner filed ....
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....determining the meaning for the specific purpose under consideration. As Humphreys, J. summarised the effect of the derivation of the word from Latin and the evaluation of judicial decisions:- ".......a document must be something which teaches you and from which you can learn something, i.e. it must be something which accords information." The form in which it takes place is immaterial. It may be anything on which the information is written or inscribed - the paper, parchment, stone or metal. Inscription in recent times is invariably on paper. That was not the case during the earlier times. The common case then was about the inscription being on parchment. Still earlier, there had been inscriptions on stone, marble or clay, and quite ....
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....tute a document, the information conveyed by the photograph as affixed in the passport is itself a conveyor of information. 9. The application form for the issue of a passport contains many items of information, such as those referred to in section 6 of the Passports Act. A passport issued on the basis, and incorporating the details of such information, would therefore, be something which gives information of an evidentiary nature. 10. The passport itself contains prominent cautions :- Caution:- 1. This is a valuable document ............ ** ** ** 4. The passport is a sure means of establishing the holder's identity and should therefore,....
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.... return to this country." (emphasis supplied) 12. Raman Nair, J. asked the question : "What is a passport today, whatever might be its historical origins?" and 'answered the question: "It is many things, for it serves many purposes. It is among other things, an essential document of travel, for, most countries insist on a passport for entry and a good many for exit as well. It serves as a document of identity and is prima facie evidence of nationality." (emphasis supplied). Hackworth's (in his Digest of International Law, Vol. 111, page 435) observation : "The American passport is a document of identity and nationality issued to persons owing allegiance to the United States and intending to travel or sojourn in foreign countries....