Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 2(s),15,16,156(1),157(2),168A,181

SRO No. 499(I)/2009 dated 13-06-2009 Option to pay fine in lieu of confiscated goods. Seizure of things liable to confiscation. Scope--Department assailed order passed by Appellate Tribunal whereby the vehicle used in smuggling was released to its owner against 20% redemption fine on the customs value. Validity-- Secret cavities of the seized vehicle were found loaded with foreign origin goods in commercial quantity, which were ordered to be confiscated by the Additional Collector vide order-in-original as neither anyone came forward to claim ownership of the smuggled goods nor any appeal was filed against the said order to the extent of confiscation of the smuggled goods--Seized vehicle being wholly used for the purpose of smuggling and in the light of SRO No. 499(I)/2009 dated 13-06-2009, no option could be given to the owner to pay fine in lieu of confiscation of the seized vehicle--Adjudication officer had rightly ordered confiscation of the seized vehicle whereas the order passed by Appellate Tribunal was in violation of the SRO as well as the provisions of S. 181 of the Customs Act, 1969--Reference application was allowed. Collector of Customs, Peshawar v. Wali Khan and others Civil Appeal No. 1050 of 2009. JUDGMENT ROZI KHAN BARRECH, JUSTICE:---.--- This order disposes of Custom Reference No. 29 of 2020. 2. Relevant facts of the case are that on 02.09.2018 on receipt of information by the Deputy Collector (preventive) the Customs Staff at about 04:30 the Customs Staff mobile squad Khurkhera suspecting a Coach bearing Registration No. BSA-554 (vehicle in question) coming from Bela, signaled the drive to stop but instead of stopping, the driver accelerated its speed. The Custom staff chased the vehicle and found the same parked near Winder City, whereas the driver had abandoned the vehicle before the custom staff reached the spot. Upon checking from specially built false cavities foreign origin Betel-nut (05) bags Monosodium Glutamate (18 bags), Tyres (05 Nos), Auto parts, scrap, Tyres of different sizes of cars were recovered from false cavities specially designed in the Coach. Since nobody came forward to claim ownership of the vehicle and recovered…

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