BERNARDO STEENHOLF ULTRICH Vs. COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS COCHIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Appellant, who is a Bolivian national, had embarked for Genoa from Colombo on an Italian passenger ship, and also booked, as part of his baggage, a car in the same ship. On December, 5, 1958, the ship called at Fort Cochin; and a Customs Officer, having earlier information, went on board. The appellant, his wife, and their cabin were searched; but nothing incriminating was found there. The Customs Officer was not satisfied; and, as the ship was about to leave, disembarked the appellant and his car. On December 6, 1938, the car was again searched; and then a secret receptacle was discovered where large quantity of Indian & American currency been concealed. Thereafter, the Customs Collector, on January 15, 1959, made the following Order:

(2.) The appellant then filed a writ petition in this Court, challenging the legality of the aforesaid order; and our learned brother Raman Nayar, J. rejected the petition, holding that the petitioner had no cause of action for relief, because he had at all times disowned the currency notes and had, therefore, not suffered any loss. The learned Judge further held that the confiscation of the currency notes was justified, because taking or sending currency out of the country, having been prohibited by notification under S.8 [I] of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the restriction would, under

(3.) Before dealing with the aforesaid arguments, it would be advantageous to have the relevant extracts from the third column of item 8 of S.167 of the Sea Customs Act, which read as follows: