Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 17

Customs Act (IV of 1969)---S. 17-Confiscation of contraband �Customs authorities confiscating contraband as unclaimed property, finding, ownership of same disputed-Petitioner, however found to have been representing to Customs authorities that goods belonged to him-Customs authorities, in circumstances, bound to give petitioner opportunity to prove his ownership-Collector of Customs directed to receive evidence for and against such conten�tion and then decide matter according to law.JUDGMENT TUFAIL ALI A. RAHMAN, C. J.-In this case we were put to the necessity of examining the petitioner and his brother since it is the case of the petitioner that the silver in question was seized from him while it is the case of the respondents that it was seized from his brother Muhammad Saeed. 2. Mr. Sami Ahmad, although he had prayed that we should declare that the action of the Customs authorities in effecting the seizure belonging to the petitioner should be declared Illegal, now agrees that the utmost that he can claim would be a somewhat lower relief. On his own contention no authority, neither the Customs Collector nor ourselves, could on the basis of a cash memo, hold that the person in whose favour the cash memo, purports to be is the real owner, and such a finding could be reached only after examining the person who signed the cash memo and as a result of believing his evidence of course taking into account all other evidence that may be available. In these circumstances Mr. Sami Ahmed therefore only requests that we should direct the Collector of Customs to give to his client the opportunity of proving before him that the…