S C ROY Vs. KANTILAL NANCHAND AND CO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Appellants are the original respondents (hereinafter referred to as the respondents). The original petitioners 1 and 3 are the respondents herein. (They will be referred to hereinafter as the petitioners).

(2.) The petitioners at all material times carried on business, inter alia, as Jewellers at Mumbadevi Road, Bombay-3. On 24th May 1969 petitioner No. 1 firm purchased silver articles weighing more than 700 kgs. in the normal course of their business. The transactions were entered in the "Roj-Mel" as also in the purchase book. On the same day Petitioner No. 1 firm sold some of these silver articles to one Messrs Sun Shine Traders. The firm however, decided to send the remaining silver articles to one Manubhai Chhaganlal Dosalbhai at Ahmedabad. For this purpose the petitioners sent 24 boxes containing these silver articles to the firm of M/s. Kantilal Somabhai Angadia who were running a carrier service between Bombay and Ahmedabad. The total net weight of silver contained in these 24 boxes came to over 700 Kgs. and its value came to Rs. 3,70,000/-. The petitioners however, declared these boxes as containing machinery. The boxes were seized from the carries on 26th of May 1969 by the Central Excise and Customs Officers, Marine and Preventive Division, Bombay under a panchanama, before they could be despatched to Ahmedabad.

(3.) Thereafter, the petitioners were served with a show cause being in May 1970 calling upon them to show cause why "silver bullion in various forms such as statues, "thalis" and "kadas" etc. should not be confiscated under Section 113(1) of the Customs Act and why penalty should not be imposed under Section 114 of the said Act. The petitioners were given a hearing by the Additional Collector, Central Excise and Customs. Thereafter, the second respondents passed an order confiscating some of the said silver articles as specified in his order of 28th January, 1972. For some of the other articles he gave an option to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/-. He also imposed a personal penalty of Rs. 50,000/- each on petitioners Nos. 2 and 3. Thereafter, the petitioners filed this petition on 5th April, 1972 challenged the said order, Madon J. as he then was, by his judgment and order dated 11/12 September, 1978, allowed the petition and made the rule absolute in terms of prayers (a) and (b). The present appeal has been preferred by the original respondents from the judgment and order of 11/12 September, 1978.