NEITHANGA HMAR AND ANR. Vs. ASSISTANT COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE AND LAND CUSTOMS AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER No. 1, Neithanga Hmar, was searched by P.W. 1 H.K. Nag, the Preventive Officer of Central Excise and Land Customs at about 9 -00 a.m. on 21 -8 -1959 when he arrived by bus at Kwakeithel Bazar near Imphal from Churachandpur. P.W. 1 had some Information that smuggled gold was being brought by the said bus. Petitioner No. 1 who is a Subedar in the Assam Regiment was In his military uniform. When he was searched, it was found that underneath his uniform, he was wearing a waist -coat in which there were 30 pockets which had been stitched and when the said pockets were unstitched, it was found that each pocket contained a gold bar weighing 16 and odd tolas making in all 480 and odd tolas of gold. The gold bars were found hammered in order to prevent their place of origin being known, i.e., whether they were of Indian origin or foreign origin. He made a statement Ext. A -2 to the Superintendent of Land Customs (P.W. 7), stating that his cousin Zaphira Hmar, petitioner No. 2, gave the said gold bars to him along with the waist -coat on 20 -8 -1959 at Churachandpur asking him to carry the said gold to Imphal and promising to take back the gold from him at Imphal and that he, was not the owner of the gold and did not know whether the gold was brought from Burma, or whether there was any permit from the Reserve Bank of India for bringing the seized gold into India.

(2.) ON 22 -8 -1959, petitioner No. 2 appeared In the Customs Office and gave the statement Ext. A -20 in which he admitted that the said gold belonged to him and that he had handed it over to petitioner No. 1 stitched inside the waist -coat to be carried to Imphal and that petitioner No. 1 himself did not know what the waist -coat contained. He said that it belonged to his father before the latter's death in 1937 and that subsequently, his brother owned the gold and that at the time of his brother's death In 1947, it was handed over to him and that he had kept the same with him until then and sent It to Imphal as he wanted to sell the gold. Petitioner No. 2, was then arrested and released on ball.

(3.) ON 27 -8 -1959, the Collector of Land Customs, Shillong, authorised the Assistant Collector of Land Customs, Silchar by Ex. A/17, to institute Criminal Case against the two petitioners under Section 167(81) of the Sea Customs Act, Section 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and Section 7(1) of the Land Customs Act. Then, the complaint was filed before the Additional District Magistrate, Manipur, on 12 -1 -1960 under those sections.