R D JOGANI Vs. COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution praying for the issue of a writ of certiorari or other appropriate writ to quash the order of the Collector of Customs, Madras in O.S. 107 of 1958/RD-MT dated 12th May, 1958 confiscating 97 pieces of diamond valued at Rs. 4987/- under Section 167(8) of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 read with Section 3(2) of the Imports and Exports Control Act.

(2.) THE petitioner is a dealer in diamonds on a small scale. THE nature of his business is described thus in the following words contained in his affidavit :

(3.) THE only contention urged by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that there are no materials to invoke the aid of Section 178A of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 and that the burden of proving that the seized goods were contraband lay only on the Department. It is contended that the seizure of the diamond stones was merely on suspicion, that the stones might have been illicitly imported into the country, and that there were no materials at the time of the seizure to find a reasonable belief in the mind of the seizing officer that the goods were smuggled. It is incontrovertible that Section 178A of the Act can come into operation only where goods are seized in the reasonable belief that they are smuggled goods. It is not necessary to emphasise the distinction between 'reasonable belief' and 'suspicion', as the distinction is transparently plain. Reasonable belief must rest only on facts, materials and circumstances, whatever may be the process by which such facts, materials and circumstances emerge and come to light. THEy may be derived by information supplied by informer. THEy may be gathered in a most haphazard fashion from various persons who might themselves have had no first hand information in the matter and might have heard it as mere hear-say from others. But however infirm such information or materials may be from the point of view of evidentiary value they nevertheless constitute a basis for entertaining a reasonable belief in regard to the contraband character of the seized goods. A suspicion however is only a mere conjecture, speculation or guess and is generally in the nature of intution. Persons like police officials and customs authorities engaged in detective work view things through tinted glasses from their own perspective and often smell rat. THE reasonable belief contemplated under Section 178A of the Act is not the coloured vision of a Customs official seeing contraband stuff spread throughout the territory but belief engendered on materials from which a reasonable man can infer that the goods seized under particular circumstances are smuggled goods.