Law: Customs Act, 1969

Section: 168,162,163

(a) Customs Act (IV of 1969)--Ss. 168, 162 163-Seizure of things liable to confiscation-Power to issue search warrant to search and arrest without warrant-Scope?- Department conducted raid and recovered huge amount of foreign origin smuggled cloth, which was ordered to be confiscated-Appellate Tribunal allowed the appeal mainly on the ground that the search and seizure was conducted in violation of Ss. 162 163 of the Customs Act, 1969-Validity-Raid was allegedly supervised by Assistant Collector and Superintendent, however, the recovery memo, was not signed by the Assistant Collector-Assistant Collector had not recorded reasons as provided by S.163 of Customs Act, 1969, to dispense with the requirement of obtaining search warrant, which was a condition precedent before conducting the raid on any premises-Nothing was available on record to justify the raid i.e. the solid reasons if the time was wasted in obtaining the search warrant, the party concerned would either remove the said goods from the premises or would frustrate the said search and seizure-Absence of reasons rendered the entire process of search and seizure nullity in the eyes of law-Impugned seizure and raid was conducted in violation of S.163 of the Customs Act, 1969-Reference was answered accordingly. S.M. Yousaf and others v. Collector of Customs and others PLD 1968 Kar. 599; The Commissioner of Sales Tax, Rawalpindi v. Messrs Sajjad Nabi Dar PLD 1977 Lah. 75 and Shaukat Hussain v. Zulfiqar Ahmed, SHO Police Station PLD 1981 Lah. 13 ref. Muhammad Mahfooz v. Collector of Customs PLD 1986 Kar. 28 rel. (b) Customs Act (IV of 1969)--Ss. 168, 162 163-Seizure of things liable to confiscation-Power to issue search warrant; search and arrest without warrant-Scope- Perusal of Ss. 162 163 of Customs Act, 1969, suggests that ordinarily a place is to be searched only after search warrant is obtained from the Magistrate as is contemplated in S.162 of the Customs Act, 1969 and only in extraordinary circumstances as provided under S.163 of the Customs Act, 1969, this mandatory requirement can be dispensed with-Language of S.163 of the Customs Act, 1969, in this regard is very clear and unambiguous that before…

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