438 of 1955
Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of Fundamental Rights
H J Umrigar and N H Hingorani for the petitioner
Porus A Mehta B Ganapati Iyer and R H Dhebar for the respondents
May 16
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SARKAR J
By a notification dated March 16 1953 the Government of India gave general permission to all persons to import into India from certain countries any goods of any of the descriptions specified in the schedule annexed to the notification
Among the goods specified in the Schedule were the following Iron and steel chains of all sorts assessable under item 63 28 of the Indian Customs Tariff excluding chains for automobiles and cycles whether cut to length or in rolls
1153 The petitioner is an importer of goods
He states that relying on the notification mentioned above he placed an order with a company in Japan sometime in August 1953 for the supply of certain goods called in the trade Zip Chains
The goods arrived in the port of Calcutta in due course and the petitioner s bank paid the price of the goods amounting to Rs 11051 4 0
Before the goods could be cleared from the port of Calcutta the petitioner received a communication from the Assistant Collector of Customs for Appraisement Calcutta dated November 19 1953 in which it was stated that it had been found that the petitioner did not possess valid import licence for the goods and requiring him to show cause why the goods should not be confiscated and action taken against the petitioner under section 167 item 8 of the 
The communication also enquired if the petitioner wanted to be heard in person
The petitioner submitted in answer a written explanation stating that the Zip Chains imported by him were chains of the kind free import of which had been permitted by the notification of March 16 1953 and therefore no licence to import them was necessary
He was thereafter again asked by the Customs authorities whether he wanted a personal hearing to which he replied that he did not
Thereafter on December 25 1953 the Collector of Customs made an order confiscating the goods and imposing a penalty of Rs 1000 on the petitioner
This order bore an endorsement that it had been despatched to the petitioner on February 1 1954
It reached him on February 3 1954
The order stated that an appeal would lie against it to the Central Board of Revenue New Delhi within three months from the date of its despatch as noted on it
The petitioner preferred an appeal and posted the memorandum of appeal on May 4 1954
The memorandum reached the Central Board of Revenue on May 6 1954 and was dismissed on the ground that it had been preferred after the expiry of the time limited for the purpose
The petitioner then made an application to the Government of India for revision of the order of the Central Board of Revenue but this application was 148 1154 rejected
The petitioner thereafter applied to the High Court of Punjab under article 226 of the Constitution for an appropriate writ to quash the order confiscating his goods and imposing the fine on him but this application too was dismissed
The petitioner has now applied to this Court under article 32 of the Constitution challenging the validity of the order made against him
Learned counsel for the petitioner did not challenge the decision of the Customs authorities that the goods were not covered by the notification of March 16 1953
He conceded that he could not do so in this application
Nor did he challenge the Customs authorities  power to confiscate the goods
Learned counsel however challenged the order of confiscation because it did not give the petitioner an option to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation
This contention was based on section 183 of the which provides as follows Whenever confiscation is authorised by this Act the officer adjudging it shall give the owner of the goods an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as the officer thinks fit
This section undoubtedly requires an option to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation to be given and this was not done
A difficulty however is caused in the way of this argument by section 3 of the Imports and Exports Control Act 1947
The relevant portion of section 3 is set out below 3
1 The Central Government may by order published in the official Gazette make provision for prohibiting restricting or otherwise controlling in all cases or in specified classes of cases and subject to such exceptions if any as may be made by or under the order a the import export carriage coastwise or shipment as ships  stores of goods of any specified description  b      2 All goods to which any order under subsection 1 applies shall be deemed to be goods of which the import or export has been prohibited or restricted under section 19 of the VIII 1155 of 1878 and all the provisions of that Act hall have effect accordingly except that section 183 thereof shall have effect as if for the word shall therein the word may were substituted
It is admitted that the Imports and Exports Control Act applies to the goods with which we are concerned and in this case the action that was taken was by virtue of this Act
That being so section 183 of the became applicable because of the Imports and Exports Control Act and it could hence be applied only as modified by the latter Act
So applied the section did not make it obligatory on the Customsauthorities when ordering confiscation to give an option to the owner to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation but gave them a discretion whether to do so or not
The order of confiscation was not therefore bad even though it had not given the petitioner an option to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation
Learned Counsel for the petitioner then contended that the portion of section 32 of the Act of 1947 which read except that section 183 thereof shall have effect as if for the word  shall  therein the word  may  were substituted  left an uncontrolled discretion in the Customs authorities to give or not to give an option to pay a fine in lieu of compensation and consequently offended article 14 of the Constitution
He therefore said that this portion of the section should be struck out of it
He said that after the offending portion was deleted from section 32 of the Act of 1947 it would require section 183 of the to be applied without any modification at all and therefore it would be obligatory on the Customs authorities when making an order of confiscation to give an option to the petitioner to pay a fine in lieu of compensation even where the Act of 1947 applied
Learned counsel said that as this had not been done the order of confiscation made in this case was bad
This argument is based on the contention that a portion of section 32 of the Act of 1947 offends article 14 and has therefore to be deleted
This contention is wrong
By its own force no part of section 32 purports to give any discretion to the Customs authorities at all
There 1156 is nothing in it therefore to offend article 14
The only effect of section 32 is to apply the to certain cases
It is impossible to say that a statute which only makes another statute applicable to certain cases offends article 14
Such a statute has obviously nothing to do with article 14
It is true that section 32 of the Act of 1947 makes section 183 of the applicable with a modification
It was said that section 183 so modified offends article 14
Assume that section 183 as modified infringes article 14
What then Clearly on this assumption section 183 as modified becomes ultra vires and illegal and it goes out of the statute book
But that does not affect the question before us at all
It does not make the order of confiscation without an option to pay a fine in lieu thereof bad
The confiscation is not made under section 183
It is made under another section of the  namely section 167 item 8 which so far as is relevant is in these terms 167
The offences mentioned in the first column of the following schedule shall be punishable to the extent mentioned in the third column of the same with reference to such offences respectively Sections of the Act to Penalties Offences Wich offence has reference 8 If any goods thei 8  19 Such goods shall importation or expor be liable to con tatipn of which is for fication and any the time being prohi such offence shall bited or restricted by be liable to a pe or under Chapter IV of nalty not exceed this Act be imported ing theree times into or exported from the value of the Indiacontrary to such goods or not exc prohibition or restric eeding one thousa tion
nd rupees
Chapter IV of the contains section 19
It has to be remembered that section 32 of the Act of 1947 states that all goods to which any order under subs
1 applies shall be deemed to be goods of which the import has been prohibited under section 19 of the 
Admittedly sub section
1 of section 3 of the Act of 1947 applies to the goods with which this case is concerned
Under section 32 of the Act of 1947 the import 1157 of these goods is to be deemed to have been prohibited under section 19 of the 
It follows that action under section 167 item 8 of the can be taken in respect of these goods and they can be confiscated and the person concerned in the illegal import made liable to a penalty
Resort to section 183 of the is not necessary to justify the order of confiscation made in this case at all
Indeed section 183 does not authorise confiscation
It assumes a confiscation authorised by other provisions of the and provides that on a confiscation being adjudged an option to pay a fine in lieu of it shall be given
It cannot therefore be said even on the assump tion that learned counsel was right in his contention that section 183 as modified offends article 14 that the order of confiscation is bad
As to whether the contention of learned counsel is right or not we decide nothing as it is not necessary to do so
It was then contended that the effect of article 14 of the Constitution on section 183 of the  as modified by the Act of 1947 was not to make the entire section 183 illegal but to invalidate the amendment in it as it was this amendment alone which offended article 14 so that section 183 as it stands in the had to be applied to this case and therefore again it was obligatory on the Customs authorities to give an option to the petitioner to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation
To accept this argument we would have to say that section 32 of the Act of 1947 itself offends article 14 and it cannot modify section 183 of the as it purports to do
We are unable to say this
In order to say that a statutory provision offends article 14 we have to examine that provision
We have here two statutory provisions
One is section 32 of the Act of 1947 and that does not offend article 14
The reasons for this view we have stated earlier
The other is section 183 of the as modified by the Act of 1947
As so modified we have for the present purpose assumed that it offends article 14
If it does it goes out as a whole
It is not really a statutory provision in two parts with regard to which it might have been possible to say that one part offends article 14 1158 while the other part does not
Section 183 with or without the modification really contains one statutory provision and therefore it must go out of the statute book as a whole or not at all
This contention on behalf of the petitioner must therefore fail
Learned counsel said that section 183 was bad also for the reason that it left it to the uncontrolled discretion of the Customs authorities to decide the quantum of the  fine to be imposed in lieu of confiscation
On the facts of this case it is an academic argument
Even if it was right the entire section 183 would have to be ignored but that would not have the effect of making the order of confiscation passed in this case invalid
All that the petitioner is concerned with is to show that the order of confiscation was bad
The present argument does not touch that point and therefore it is not necessary to consider it at all
Another similar argument was that section 167 item 8 of the itself offended article 14 in that it left to the uncontrolled discretion of the Customs authorities to decide the amount of the penalty to be imposed
The section makes it clear that the maximum penalty that might be imposed under it is Rs 1000
The discretion that the section gives must be exercised within the limit so fixed
This is not an uncontrolled or unreasonable discretion
Furthermore the discretion is vested in high Customs officers and there are appeals from their order
The imposition of the fine is really a quasijudicial act and the test of the quantum of it is in the gravity of the offence
The object of the Act is to prevent unauthorised importation of goods and the discretion has to be exercised with that object in view
Learned counsel then contended that the order of confiscation had been made mala fide
It was said that it had been passed ex parte
This is not correct for the petitioner had been asked before the order was made whether he wanted a personal hearing and he had stated in reply that he did not and had ample confidence in the authorities
It is not therefore open to the petitioner to contend that he had no opportunity of being heard before the order against him was 1159 passed
He had been given an opportunity and had not availed himself of it
It was also stated that in deciding not to give the petitioner an option to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation the Customs authority had gone into certain other transactions without giving any notice to the petitioner that this would be done
It was said that the petitioner was not given an opportunity of being heard in respect of these transactions
The notice which the Customs authorities gave to the petitioner to show cause why the goods should not be confiscated also informed him necessarily that an order for confiscation might be made without an option to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation being given and therefore it was his fault if he did not appear at the hearing and showed cause why the order of confiscation should not be absolute but should give him an option to pay a fine
It was also said that he had been deprived of the option because of the differences that existed between him and the Public Relations Officer of the Customs Department in Calcutta
This point of view was sought to be supported by citing the cases of two other persons who had imported similar goods at or about the same time and who had been given the option
The facts of these other cases were however substantially different
There was nothing to show in these that goods had been imported in deliberate violation of the order of the Government while in the case of the petitioner there are materials on which such a view could be formed
It appears that the petitioner as the Manager of a firm called Federal Clearing Agency had received a communication from the Customs authorities on July 30 1953 that Zip Chains were not covered by the notification of March 16 1953 and within a fortnight of that communication he had placed the orders for identical goods which he now claims to be within the notification
It was not unreasonable for the Customs authorities to think that the petitioner had deliberately imported the goods in breach of the order of the Government and without specific licence for that purpose and on that ground to think it proper not to give him the option
This would be so even if it was 1160 assumed that in the dispute with the Public Relations Officer the petitioner was in the right
It was then stated that the petitioner had not been given personal hearing of the appeal that he preferred to the Central Board of Revenue and the application in revision to the Government
But there is no rule of natural justice that at every stage a person is entitled to a personal hearing
Furthermore the appeal was out of time
The memorandum of appeal to the Central Board of Revenue was posted on May 4 1954
The time to file the appeal however expired on May 1 1954 so that even if the date of the posting is taken as the date of the appeal the petitioner was out of time
The petitioner states that he received the order of confiscation on February 3 1954
Even so on May 4 1954 he would not be within time
The memorandum of appeal however was received by the Central Board of Revenue on May 6 1954
That must be taken to be the date when the appeal was filed and that being so the appeal must be taken to have been filed clearly out of time
The petitioner stated that the Customs authorities wrongfully and maliciously procured his arrest on May 1 1954 and he obtained his release on May 2 1954
It was suggested that this arrest was procured in order to prevent him from filing his appeal in time
This contention is entirely idle
Admittedly the petitioner had time from February 3 1954 till May 1 1954 to file his appeal but he did not take advantage of this long period
He waited till the end for filing the appeal
There is nothing to show that the arrest was wrongful or that at the date of the arrest the Customs authorities had any knowledge that the petitioner had not filed his appeal
The contentions that the order complained of was malafide or that the appeal had not been filed out of time are entirely untenable
The result is that this application fails and it is dismissed with costs
Petition dismissed


Summary:
Section 167 item 8 of the  provides that if any goods the importation of which is for the time being prohibited or restricted by or under Ch
IV of the Act which Chapter includes section 19 be imported into India contrary to such prohibition or restriction such goods shall be liable to confiscation and any person concerned in such importation shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding three times the value of the goods or not exceeding one thousand rupees
By section 183 of this Act it is provided Whenever confiscation is authorised by this Act the officer adjudging it shall give the owner of the goods an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as the officer thinks fit
 The Imports and Exports Control Act 1947 by section 31 empowers the Central Government by an order to make provision for prohibiting restricting or otherwise controlling the import export carriage coast wise or shipment as ships  stores of goods of any specified description
Sub section 2 of that section provides that all goods to which any order under sub section
1 applies shall be deemed to be goods of which the import or export has been prohibited or restricted under section 19 of the  and all the provisions of that Act shall have effect accordingly 1152 except that section 183 thereof shall have effect as if for the word shall  the word may  are substituted
The petitioner imported certain goods the import of which had been prohibited by the Central Government under section 31 Of the Imports and Exports Control Act
By an order of the Collector of Customs made under section 167 item 8 of the  these goods were confiscated and a penalty of Rs 1000 was imposed on the petitioner
The petitioner challenged the validity of this order
Held  1 Section 32 of the Imports and Exports Control Act 1947 does not offend article 14 of the Constitution
It does not by its own force give any discretion to the Customs authorities at all and its only effect is to apply the 
to certain cases
2 Section 183 Of the  does not authorise confiscation of goods
It assumes that a power to confiscate under other provisions of the Act exists
It is not a statutory provision in two parts with regard to which it may be said that one part offends article 14 while the other part does not
The section contains only one statutory provision
3 Section 167 item 8 of the Sea Customs  Act 1878 does not offend article 14 of the Constitution