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Madhusudan Gordhandas & Company v. Collector Of Customs, Bombay
Structured Summary of the Tribunal Order (per M. Gouri Shankar Murthy, Member (J))
Factual and Procedural Background
This proceeding was filed as an "Appeal" challenging various Tribunal Orders Nos. 313 to 367/1984-A (in Appeal Nos. 1847/83-A and 192 to 245/84-A) and principally prays for interest (Rs. 60,91,318) on fines paid in excess nearly 17 years earlier and Rs. 2,30,474 as bank guarantee commission.
Relevant facts and procedural history as set out in the opinion:
- Original adjudication orders by the Collectors of Customs (Bombay and Calcutta) confiscated certain imported goods absolutely in some cases and allowed redemption on payment of a fine in others.
- Appeals to the Board of Central Excise and Customs resulted in six orders (between 1-6-1968 and 13-3-1969) permitting redemption on payment of fines, the aggregate of which was Rs. 41,86,172.
- The appellant redeemed goods by paying Rs. 23,45,855 in cash (between 3-11-1967 and 21-5-1969) and provided bank guarantees for the balance Rs. 18,40,317 in the Supreme Court.
- Following remand by the Supreme Court, the Tribunal on 30-5-1984 reduced fines to 25% of CIF value and directed consequential relief forthwith, observing that some bank guarantees stood discharged.
- The appellant calculated the excess paid over the Tribunal's reduced fines as Rs. 21,38,128 and excess guaranteed amount as Rs. 16,56,185; bank commission over 13 years 11 months was alleged to be Rs. 2,30,474.
- After the Tribunal order, the appellant filed multiple applications (for impleading parties, for directions to Collectors to refund with 12% interest, for return of bank guarantees, and a contempt application). The Tribunal made various miscellaneous orders (impleading Calcutta Collector, directing Collectors to grant consequential relief by specified dates, confirming discharge of bank guarantees, and dismissing one application for default).
Legal Issues Presented
- What is the true nature of the proceeding — an appeal against the Tribunal's own orders, a review, a rectification, a clarification, an application for restitution, or a claim for compensation arising as consequential relief?
- Whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction to award interest on amounts refunded (i.e., interest on excess fines refunded following reduction on appeal), or to order compensation or other substantive relief in the guise of consequential relief.
- Whether restitution (including payment of interest) under principles analogous to Section 144 of the Civil Procedure Code (C.P.C.) or inherent powers (e.g., actus curiae neminem gravabit) can be granted where payments were voluntary (payment of fine to redeem goods) and the order of confiscation itself remains intact.
- Whether an appellate forum (the Tribunal) is an appropriate forum for execution of its own order directing consequential relief, including award of interest.
- Whether analogies to statutory schemes providing interest on refunds (e.g., Section 214 Income Tax Act or statutes authorizing compensation on compulsory acquisition) support the appellant's claim in the Customs Act context.
Arguments of the Parties
Appellant's Arguments
- The appellant sought payment of interest on the excess cash fines paid (computed at 18% bank rate) from the dates of payment up to the Tribunal's order (30-5-1984), amounting to Rs. 60,91,318, plus Rs. 2,30,474 as bank guarantee commission, totalling Rs. 63,21,792.
- The appellant argued that bare refund of excess fines would not compensate for "colossal losses" and "agony" and that interest is required to achieve restitution and just compensation.
- Reliance was placed on restitution principles (Section 144 C.P.C. and the maxim actus curiae neminem gravabit) and an Allahabad decision (AIR 1975 Allahabad 102) to support restitution even where S.144 may not be exhaustive.
- Implicitly or explicitly, counsel at one stage suggested the fines in lieu of confiscation represented the "price of the goods" rather than a penal fine.
- The appellant sought execution/implementation of the Tribunal's direction for consequential relief, contending it should include interest.
Respondent / Tribunal's (Departmental) Arguments as Recorded
- The Tribunal/Departmental Representative insisted there is no statutory provision in the Customs Act comparable to Section 214 of the Income Tax Act to mandate payment of interest on refunds; the Customs Act contains limited provision for interest only in S.61(2) (for warehoused goods), and omission of an interest provision is significant.
- The claim for interest was characterized as substantive (compensation) and not merely consequential relief; consequential relief cannot be used to claim compensation or interest unless specifically awarded or pleaded.
- The Tribunal is not an executing court and cannot be asked to execute its own order in the manner sought; execution applications are not to be made to an appellate forum.
- Restitution principles do not apply where payments were voluntary (payment of fines for redemption) and the order of confiscation itself was not set aside; the payment was optional and intended to obtain release of goods.
- Analogies to compulsory acquisition and nationalisation cases (where interest may be awarded as part of compensation) are inapplicable because confiscation is penal and not akin to compulsory acquisition for public purpose.
- The bank guarantee matter arises out of a contract between the appellant and the bank; the bank's contractual return of funds with interest does not determine whether interest is due from the State on reduced fines.
Table of Precedents Cited
| Precedent | Rule or Principle Cited For | Application by the Court |
|---|---|---|
| AIR 1961 S.C. 218 - Padam Sen v. The State of U.P. | Inherent powers under Section 151 C.P.C. relate to procedure and cannot be used to affect substantive rights (i.e., cannot be used, in the guise of clarification, to alter substantive orders). | Applied to reject an argument that the Tribunal could use inherent powers to clarify or effect substantive change (such as awarding interest) to its earlier order outside the rectification provisions. |
| AIR 1963 Mad. 45 (F.B.) - Pappu Reddiar v. P.S.V.Rm. Ramanatha Iyer | Restitution is fact-dependent and cannot be governed by an inflexible rule; courts must do justice based on circumstances. | Accepted the general principle but held restitution did not arise on these facts because payment was voluntary and confiscation was not set aside. |
| AIR 1981 S.C. 1196 (reported Supreme Court decision) | Referenced for the finding that the importer was guilty of trafficking in licences and that confiscation was confirmed (paras 4 and 5). | Used to emphasize that confiscation remained upheld and was not set aside; therefore restitution/interest claims could not proceed on the basis that the confiscation itself was reversed. |
| AIR 1974 S.C. 859 - Collector of Customs v. Boormull | Confiscation is in rem; property vests in the State; distinguishes confiscation/penalty from purely proprietary transactions. | Relied upon to characterize confiscation as expropriatory and penal, reinforcing that restitution interest claims based on dispossession analogies are inapt. |
| Levin v. Allnut (1812) 15 East 267 | Confiscation is an act by government for its benefit; an appropriation of private property as punishment. | Cited in support of the proposition that confiscation is penal/expropriatory and not equivalent to compulsory acquisition requiring interest as compensation. |
| (1947) Ch. 629 - Frankfurther v. W.L. Exner | Seizure and appropriation of property as punishment for breach of law constitutes confiscation. | Referenced to show confiscation's penal character and to argue against awarding interest as restitution on penal confiscation. |
| (1902) 1 Ch 858 - Re Burnett | Confiscated property means property taken by the Crown by way of penalty. | Used to support the view that confiscation is penal and not analogous to statutory compulsory acquisition entitling to interest. |
| AIR 1928 P.C. 287 (Privy Council) | On expropriation under statutory power, owner is entitled to interest on compensation from the date possession was taken unless statute indicates otherwise. | Quoted to show that the authorities relied upon by the appellant for interest relate to statutory expropriation/compulsory acquisition, not to penal confiscation. |
| AIR 1985 S.C. 382 - Joginder Singh v. State of Punjab | Under the Land Acquisition Act the right to compensation (and enhanced compensation) relates back to date of acquisition; interest accordingly may be computed from that date. | Applied as an example of statutory acquisition cases; the court held such authorities are distinguishable and inapplicable to confiscation/fines under Customs law. |
| AIR 1961 S.C. 908 - Sathinder Singh v. Umrao Singh | Interest may form part of compensation on dispossession; interest is not merely damages but relates to compensation entitlement. | Used to illustrate that interest awards arise in compulsory acquisition/compensation contexts, not in penal confiscation where the State keeps the property. |
| 1969 (3) S.C.C. 49 - R.V.M. Neeladri Rao v. The Board of Revenue | Example under the Madras Estates (Abolition etc.) Act where interest was payable as part of compensation relating back to dispossession. | Employed to demonstrate that the appellant's authorities deal with statutory dispossession schemes, distinguishable from confiscatory fines. |
| AIR 1963 S.C. 1171 - The National Insurance Co. v. Life Insurance Corporation | Recognition that under nationalisation statutes interest can be awarded on compensation despite absence of explicit statutory provision. | Referred to show that such holdings are confined to statutory acquisition/nationalisation contexts and do not support interest claims on penal fines. |
| AIR 1965 S.C. 1231 - Mahant Narayan Das v. Board of Trustees T.T. Devasthanam | Interest forms an integral part of mesne profits under Section 2(12) C.P.C. | The court held that the mesne profits principle does not apply to the present facts and the authority is not applicable. |
| 20 Guj. L.R. 944 at 958 - M/s. Vijay Textiles v. Union of India | Where a levy of duty is illegal without authority of law, refund with interest can be ordered in a writ proceeding or suit. | Distinguished on the basis that the present reduction of fine was not a case of an illegal levy ab initio; confiscation and the fine were not struck down as without authority. |
| AIR 1961 S.C. 264 - Ambalal v. Union of India | An appellate court is not an executing court; reliefs like corresponding reduction of redemption amounts fall within the discretion of the concerned officer and execution should be sought from appropriate forum. | Relied upon to rebut the appellant's contention that the Tribunal should execute its order by awarding interest; confirmed that execution applications are not to be made to an appellate forum. |
| AIR 1973 S.C. 2384 - Shamsher Singh v. Rajinder Pershad | Definition of "consequential relief" — relief that follows directly from a declaration as distinct from substantive relief, which must be separately pleaded and proved. | Applied to conclude that interest/compensation is substantive and cannot be claimed as consequential relief without specific pleading; interest cannot be treated as automatically flowing from the Tribunal's directive. |
| AIR 1941 Lah. 97 (F.B.) - Mst. Zeb-ul-nissa v. Din Mohammad; MR 1978 Delhi 114 Purshottamdas v. Har Narain (F.B.) | Further exposition of the meaning of "consequential relief" and the need for the relief to follow directly from a declaration. | Followed in support of the conclusion that the appellant's claim for interest is substantive and not a consequential relief directly flowing from the Tribunal's order. |
Court's Reasoning and Analysis
The Tribunal's reasoning proceeds in a series of inter-related legal conclusions grounded in jurisdictional limits, the character of confiscation, the nature of restitution/compensation law, and procedural constraints:
- Identification of the true nature of the application: The Tribunal observed that the filing is confused as to its nature — it purports to be an appeal against Tribunal orders, a review, a rectification, clarification, restitution claim, or a claim for compensation as consequential relief. The Tribunal stressed that its jurisdiction depends on the proceeding's true nature.
- Jurisdictional limits: The Tribunal cannot hear an appeal against its own orders nor exercise a generic review power unless expressly conferred by statute. Only rectification for "mistake apparent from record" is statutorily provided (S.129-B(2) Customs Act). No errors apparent from the record were pleaded; hence rectification is not applicable.
- Inherent/clarificatory powers: The court emphasized that inherent powers (S.151 C.P.C.) are procedural and cannot be used to affect substantive rights by way of clarification or to grant reliefs not statutorily authorized (citing Padam Sen). Clarification cannot be used as a disguise for substantive modification beyond the rectification window.
- Restitution analysis (S.144 C.P.C. and related principles): The Tribunal outlined the doctrinal limits of restitution — it traditionally applies where a decree/order of a court is varied or reversed and the original court is called upon to restore parties to the pre-decree position. Restitution may include interest or compensation but depends on the specific facts, and typically is exercised by the court which passed the original order.
- Character of confiscation and voluntariness of payment: A central plank of the court's reasoning is that confiscation is penal and in rem (property vests in State). Redemption by payment of a fine is optional, undertaken to obtain release of goods; hence payments made were voluntary rather than compelled by an executable decree. As confiscation itself was not set aside, restitution principles (aimed at undoing an erroneous compulsion) do not readily apply.
- Distinction from compulsory acquisition/compensation jurisprudence: The court repeatedly distinguished confiscation from statutory expropriation/compulsory acquisition cases (where compensation and interest may be awarded and interest may relate back to date of dispossession). It held that authorities awarding interest arise in statutory compensation/dispossession contexts and are inapposite to penal confiscation.
- Substantive versus consequential relief: The Tribunal explained that awarding compensation or interest is a substantive relief that must be specifically pleaded and proved; it cannot be treated as a mere consequential relief flowing directly from a declaration unless actually awarded. The Court relied on precedents defining "consequential relief" and the procedural requirement under CPC Section 34 that interest must be specifically claimed.
- Execution and forum: The Tribunal reiterated that execution is not to be sought from an appellate forum. Cases were cited showing that appellate courts do not substitute for executing authorities; parties seeking execution of directions should approach the competent executing authority or the original forum as applicable.
- Bank guarantee issue: The court noted that the bank's return of funds with interest arose out of contractual relations between appellant and bank; this does not resolve whether the State is liable to pay interest on reduced fines, as the fine paid to the State was appropriated and is not comparable to a deposit contractually held.
- Conclusion of law: Given the voluntary nature of payment, the penal character of confiscation, lack of statutory provision for interest on refunds under Customs Act analogous to Income Tax Act Section 214, and the procedural limitations on the Tribunal's powers, the claim for interest and related compensation cannot be sustained in this forum.
Holding and Implications
Holding:
DISMISSED. The Tribunal held that the application/appeal seeking interest and related compensation is without merit and frivolous, and accordingly dismissed it.
Implications and direct effects:
- Direct effect on the parties: The appellant's claim for interest on excess fines paid, and claim for bank guarantee commission as part of consequential relief, are refused; the application is dismissed. The Tribunal explicitly found the claim to be misplaced both on jurisdictional and substantive grounds.
- No extension of precedent: The Tribunal distinguished authorities relied upon by the appellant and did not expand the law to create a new basis for awarding interest on reductions of penal fines in the Customs context. The decision confines interest awards largely to statutory compensation/expropriation contexts or where a statute or clear principle mandates interest.
- Procedural guidance: The opinion reinforces that restitution/compensation interest claims are substantive and must be properly pleaded; appellate forums will not be treated as executing courts for awarding interest absent clear statutory or pleading-based entitlement.
The Tribunal's order is therefore a dismissal of the appellant's application in its entirety on the grounds set out above.
[Order per : M. Gouri Shankar Murthy, Member (J)]. - This is a proceeding initiated and filed as an “Appeal” against the Orders of the Tribunal Nos. 313 to 367/1984-A (in Appeal Nos. 1847/83-A and 192 to 245/84 A)praying for the award of interest in a sum of Rs. 60,91,318.00 on the fine in lieu of confiscation paid in excess nearly 17 years ago together with Rs. 2,30,474.00 alleged to have been paid towards guarantee commission by the applicant to the bank on “excess Bank guarantee amount”.
2. Briefly, the allegations appearing in the “appeal” supplemented from facts from the relevant papers in the record are -
(a) pursuant to orders in adjudication by the Collectors of Customs, Bombay and Calcutta, certain imported goods were confiscated absolutely in some cases and subject to redemption on payment of a fine in lieu thereof in certain others ;
(b) various appeals preferred against such orders, were disposed of by the Board of Central Excise and Customs in six orders between 1-6-1968 and 13-3-1969 by which redemption on payment of various fines in lieu of confiscation was allowed in all the cases. The aggregate of such fines amounted to Rs. 41,86,172/-;
(c) the applicant, in accordance with the orders in original as well as those in appeal allowing redemption, redeemed the goods from confiscation, paying altogether an amount of Rs. 23,45,855/- in cash on diverse dates between 3-11-1967 and 21-5-1969 and furnishing a bank guarantee in the balance sum of Rs. 18,40,317/- in the Hon’ble Supreme Court;
(d) ultimately, as a sequel to the aforesaid appeals against the orders of the Board pursuant to a remand by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the Tribunal by its order, dated 30-5-1984, held that the fines in lieu of confiscation should be reduced to 25% of the C.I.F. value of the aggregate of the goods imported and observed further ‘The consequential relief which flows from this order be given to the appellants forthwith as the matter is quite old. Further, we notice the appellants had also furnished bank guarantees for some of the amounts, although bulk of the fine had been paid in cash. As a result of the above decision, the said bank guarantees stand discharged";
(e) the excess of the fines in the aggregate paid by the applicant as aforesaid over the fines reduced by the Tribunal would work out to Rs. 21,38,128/-. Similarly, the excess amount for which the bank guarantee was furnished was in a sum of Rs. 16,56,185/-. The Bank also charged commission which worked out to Rs.2,30,474/-over a period of 13 years and eleven months.
3. The relief claimed may be extracted partly as follows -
(a) “bare refund of the fines today (paid in excess - in consequence of the order of the Tribunal) does not compensate the appellant’s colossal losses.” “....... the tremendous losses and agony undergone by the appellants can be compensated to a certain extent if the appellants are awarded interest on excess cash fines paid before 17 years”;
(b) at 18%, which is the Bank rate, such interest on excess fines paid in cash for the period upto the date of the Tribunal’s order –30-5-1984 - comes to Rs. 60,91,318 (Annexure ‘C’);
(c) on the reversal of the orders of the Board and reduction of the fines, refund of the costs incurred and interest is the “only just and proper way of restitution being properly consequential on such reversal/modification”. The glaring disproportion between the fines in lieu of confiscation and the penalties levied on the Mills should be taken into account in acceding to the prayer in the application;
(d) accordingly, it was prayed that the Tribunal may be pleased to award payment of Rs. 63,21,792.00 (made up of Rs. 60,91,318.00 being interest on the excess fine paid in cash and Rs. 2,30,474.00 being the commission on the guarantee paid on the excess guarantee amount.
4. After the disposal of the appeals by the Tribunal by the order, dated 30-5-1984, [as stated in Para 2(d) supra], the appellant in all the said appeals, filed as many as four applications. They are -
(a) ROM.17/84 dated 18.6.1984 for impleading the Collector of Customs, Calcutta in the array of parties;
(b) C.Misc/26/85-A on 21.2.1985 for “instructions to the Collectors of Customs, Bombay and Calcutta, to give refund immediately to the appellants as due under the order of the Hon’ble Tribunal with interest at the rate of 12% from 30.5.1984 till date of actual payment”;
(c) unnumbered application, dated 6.6.1984, for arranging the return of the bank guarantee furnished by the appellant to the Registrar of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal Nos. 1141-43/1970;
(d) C/Misc/288/85-A on 2.12.1985 for “punishing respondent No. 1 (Collector of Customs, Bombay) for the contempt of interfering with the process of law or pre-empting the judicial decision of the matter sub judice before Hon’ble Tribunal”.
5. The respective orders made on each one of the applications aforesaid are -
(a) the Miscellaneous Order No. 458/84-A, dated 19.6.1984 by which the Collector of Customs, Calcutta was impleaded as a respondent in the array of parties as prayed for;
(b) the Miscellaneous Order No. 20/85-A, dated 15.3.1985 by which the Collector of Customs, Bombay was directed to grant “consequential relief allowed by the Tribunal by 16.4.1985" and the Collector of Customs, Calcutta was similarly directed to grant ”consequential relief" by 25.4.1985;
(c) the Miscellaneous Orders No. 403/84 - 457/84, dated 19.6.1984 by which the Tribunal confirmed “the fact that the bank guarantee referred to above stands discharged without any claims thereunder”;
(d) the Miscellaneous Order No. 236/84-A, dated 29.12.1986 by which it was dismissed for default.
6. (a) On the allegations made and reliefs prayed for in the instant proceeding, it will be an under-statement to say that one is baffled as to what exactly it is, since the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to hear and decide the issues raised depends on its true nature. Is it an appeal as it purports to be, against the orders of Tribunal or a review thereof as also prayed for or an application for rectification or for clarification or for restitution or for the award of compensation in the guise of consequential relief?
(b) The Tribunal cannot obviously hear and decide an appeal against its own orders. Nor is the Tribunal empowered to review its own orders. A power of review has specifically to be conferred by Statute and there is no such power statutorily vested in the Tribunal. The statutory provisions defining the jurisdiction of the Tribunal speaks only of an amendment “to any order passed” in appeal by the Tribunal by way of rectification of any mistake apparent from the record [S.129-B(2) of the Customs Act, 1962]. Is this an application for rectification of any error in the orders passed by the Tribunal in the appeals? If so, what are the errors apparent from the record ? No errors at all are pleaded as requiring to be rectified. It cannot be, therefore, an application for rectification. Is it an application for clarification of the orders already made by the Tribunal in the appeals? Does the Tribunal have any jurisdiction whatsoever to clarify the earlier orders ? There is no prayer for any clarification whatsoever inviting us to clarify that consequential relief ordered by the Tribunal included not merely the amount of fine paid in excess over the amount determined by the Tribunal but payment of the interest claimed as well. Nor does the Tribunal have jurisdiction to clarify its earlier order “at any time within four years from the date of the order” as provided for rectification [S.129-B(2)]. Clarification is not rectification of errors apparent from the record. Even the civil court, under S. 151 of the C.P.C. cannot, in the guise of clarification, make an order so as to effect substantive rights. ‘The inherent powers saved by S. 151 of the Code are with respect to procedure to be followed by the court in deciding the cause before it. These powers are not powers over the substantive rights of a party." [AIR 1961 S.C. 218 - Padam Sen v. The State of U.P.].
(c) (i) While, obviously, it is none of these, in an application enclosed with what purports to be an appeal against the Tribunal’s orders, the appellant talks of restitution on principles analogous to those in S. 144 of the C.P.C. and compensation for “tremendous losses and agony undergone by the appellants”;
(ii) what is restitution in terms of S. 144 of the C.P.C. and how does restitution arise in the facts and circumstances of the case ? ;
(iii) restitution, in terms of S. 144 of the C.P.C. is confined to a case where a decree or order made by court is varied or reversed in an appeal or is set aside or modified in any Suit instituted for that purpose. It is the court which passed the original decree that has either been varied, modified or set aside that is to act in restitution. Not the court which had modified, reversed in appeal or set it aside in a separate suit, as the case may be. The restitution is to the extent it will, as far as may be, place the parties in the position they would have occupied but for such decree or order or such part thereof as has been varied. For this purpose, the court may order payment of interest or compensation amongst other reliefs;
(iv) a decree or order of a court is one that has to be complied with on pain of execution and enforcement thereof in accordance with the provisions of the code. Compliance with it is not left to the judgment debtor’s option in any case. In a conditional decree, it may be, if at all, an option may be said to have been afforded to the Decree Holder - not the judgment Debtor. The performance of a condition by the decree holder is a condition precedent for the executability of the decree in such cases. It is only to that extent could an option be said to have been given. Once the Decree Holder exercises the option and complies with the condition precedent, the decree becomes executable against the judgment debtor who is compelled to act in terms thereof ;
(v) where property is delivered or money paid under compulsion of a decree or order of court (defined as a formal decision of a court which is not a decree) and such decree or order is varied, modified or set aside as the case may be, restitution is made by that court which originally made the order or decree;
(vi) even so, the mode of restitution that may be ordered depends on the circumstances of each case. Thus, “Restitution conceived in that light - namely doing justice between the parties, will necessarily have to depend on the facts and circumstances of each case and cannot be reduced to the form of an inflexible rule that courts should have regard to the detriment suffered by one party and not the other” [AIR 1963 Mad. 45 (F.B.) -Pappu Reddiar v. P.S.V. Rm. Ramanatha Iyer];
(vii) what are the circumstances in this case? The goods imported were confiscated. The order of confiscation is not set aside even in the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court wherein, it was confirmed that the importer was guilty of the offence of trafficking in licenses [paras 4 and 5 of the report of the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in AIR 1981 SC 1196]. An order of confiscation is, undoubtedly, an order in rem - rather than in personum - like e.g. penalty under S. 112 of the Customs Act, 1962 - one in relation to the goods rather than in relation to the person in any way concerned with them [AIR 1974 SC 859 - Collector of Customs v. Boormull]. On confiscation, the importer’s title, if any, to the goods is extinguished and it vests in the Government. It is an act of appropriation of private property for State or sovereign use. Confiscation is “an act done in some way on the part of the Government of the country where it takes place and in some way beneficial to that Government [per Lord Ellenborough in Levin v. Allnut - (1812) 15 East 267 at 269].
The seizure and appropriation of property as a punishment for breach of the law whether municipal or international was held to be confiscation in (1947) Ch. 629 [Frankfurther v. W.L. Exner]. So also, property confiscated was construed to mean, in its ordinary sense, property taken by the Crown by way of penalty - in Re Burnett [(1902) 1 Ch 858 cited in Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary], Likewise, criminal law provides for confiscation of property produced before the court or in its custody or used for the commission of any offence [S. 452 of the C.R.P.C., 1973]. Confiscation is, in the circumstances, penal in nature. One would be hard put to find an award of interest by way of restitution on a penalty or fine set aside in appeal or revision in criminal law. The fine or penalty goes to the State and to none else and when set aside, there is no restitution other than refund thereof;
(viii) one other distinguishing feature appears straightaway. The order of confiscation had become final and not reversed or modified or set aside. The property in the goods had irrevocably vested in the Government. What was modified was the fine in lieu of confiscation. But then, it was not obligatory to pay the fine or incur expenses for a bank guarantee to secure any part of it. It was entirely optional. The compulsive force of a decree is conspicuous by its absence. Could one who had opted to pay the fine and incur expenses for a bank guarantee, not having been compelled to do so but entirely on his own in a quasi criminal proceeding claim restitution, in consequence of a reduction in the quantum thereof in an appeal? As a result of the exercise of the option, he had the benefit of having the goods released from confiscation. We do not know what profit he realised by sale of those goods. One would hardly expect payment of the fine to obtain a release from confiscation unless there was an expectation of profit. Not one word of the profit he realised in these proceedings. As a result of the order in appeal, he had the benefit of a reduction in the quantum of the amount he had to pay for such release. What further restitution is he entitled to for a purely voluntary act in a quasi criminal proceeding and where should he apply, if at all? Not to the appellate forum in any event. Again, the order of confiscation was meant to benefit the State. The redemption fine in lieu of such confiscation is also to the benefit of the State. If any part of it is reduced in appeal, the benefit to the State to that extent is reduced to the advantage of the person redeeming the goods. Should there be restitution on top of it just because the benefit to the State was reduced. There can be no question of restitution for a voluntary act - much less so in a quasi criminal proceeding. If, therefore, it is such a claim in the appellate forum rather than in the forum of first instance, it deserves to be straightaway dismissed not merely as frivolous and not maintainable but on the issue of jurisdiction as well;
(ix) in spite of the true nature of confiscation (an order - in rem and expropriatory as a penalty) and of the proceedings (quasi criminal), the learned Counsel attempted to urge that the fine in lieu of confiscation is, however, not penal in character since, it represented, in reality, the price of the goods. “With confiscation, the punishment was complete and the crime had been washed out (crime + punishment = cleansing of the person). The loss of goods worth Rs. 40,00,000/- is adequate punishment on the Petitioners” says he in a written note with a letter, dated 26.5.1986 submitted after the arguments. Does he realise the inconsistency with what was urged before the Supreme Court and the Tribunal thereafter in support of a reduction in the fine? Or was all that conveniently forgotten or one can approbate and reprobate ? If the fine was merely the price for the confiscated goods, how at all could it be said to have been glaringly disproportionate to the penalties levied on the Mills and reduced to 25% of the C.I.F. price? If the fines were price and not penalty, why should they have been reduced at all? Are goods worth, admittedly, 40 lakhs, to be sold at a price of 25% of their C.I.F. price in lieu of confiscation? If by the word “fine”, all that was intended was “price”, what prevented the legislature from using “price” instead of “fine”? The confusion is compounded by citing the illustration of the entitlement of an auction purchaser to a refund of his bid amount with interest in case of auction is set aside. The distinction is obvious. The auction purchaser pays a price for purchase of goods in an auction, while the importer whose goods had been confiscated pays a fine, penal in character, in redeeming the goods from such confiscation. The fine need not be equal to the price of the goods. In actual fact, it is intended to mop up the profit he intends to make so that it has a deterrent effect on him and others of his ilk. It is, however, subject to a ceiling of the market price on the date of import when the offence is committed. Redemption is not intended to be illusory. Payment of the market price all over in the shape of fine is a mug’s game and not worth it unless the profit that may still be made is more than 100%. The contention advanced is wholly contrary and inconsistent with the case of the applicant all along and cannot be accepted;
(x) what is more interesting, the learned Counsel admits that “money paid by the Petitioners to redeem the goods is an optional disposal”, thereby giving up the case for restitution altogether ;
(xi) in trying to sustain the claim as a restitution, he had nevertheless cited the case reported in AIR 1975 Allahabad 102 (F.B.) which reiterates generally the principle of restitution. S. 144 of the C.P.C. is not exhaustive on restitution and it may equally be granted on the application of the maxim “actus curiae neminum gravabit”. It is really the duty of the court to grant restitution under its inherent powers when a person has been deprived of his property due to an order of court which has subsequently been varied or reversed as being erroneous even if such party could not invoke the powers of the court under S. 144. May be so. But then, has the appellant/applicant been deprived of any property due to an order that has been varied? An order affording him an option which he freely exercised is no deprivation of his property. Nor has the order of confiscation been varied or set aside. It is penal in nature. If some part of the fine is reduced, there is no question of restitution by the award of interest to the extent it was reduced;
(d) (i) The claim for interest in an amount much in excess of the original fines paid in lieu of confiscation [interest claimed is in a sum of Rs. 60,91,318.00, while the fines aggregated to Rs. 41,86,172/-] is sought to be sustained on the ground that it is compensation;
(ii) compensation for what? The agony suffered? That was his own choosing. He need not have paid the fines at all, in which case, in all probability, the Government would also not be put to any loss. The goods could have been disposed of at a price that might include not merely their landed cost and redemption fines but some profit as well - such profit as the applicant, in all likelihood, earned on the goods after redemption. Is compensation to be claimed for injury assumed to have been caused for a voluntary act?;
(iii) compensation for loss ? When was the loss quantified ? Has the applicant disclosed what loss he had suffered except repeating parrotwise “tremendous losses”. What is the profit earned on the goods redeemed ? No knowing;
(iv) award of interest as part and parcel of compensation provided for in a statute stands altogether on a different footing. That is where property is compulsorily acquired, say, under the Land Acquisition Act or the Estates Abolition Acts or any of the Nationalisation Acts. The right, title and interest of a person are extinguished compulsorily, subject, however, to the receipt of the compensation statutorily fixed. Sometimes, the payment of interest on delayed payment of compensation, as part and parcel thereof is sanctioned by the statute itself. In other cases, payment of interest on the delayed payment of the amount of compensation is awarded on equitable grounds. In such cases, compensation is held to relate back to the date of compulsory acquisition and the delay in the payment thereof is compensated by award of interest. To quote the Privy Council in AIR 1928 P.C. 287, upon the expropriation of land under statutory power, whether for purpose of private gain or of good to the public at large, the owner is entitled to interest upon the principal sum awarded from the date when possession was taken, unless the statute clearly shows a contrary intention.” The cases cited and relied upon in support of the claim for payment of interest as compensation are one and all relating to compulsory acquisition by statute only, Thus, in AIR 1985 S.C. 382 Joginder Singh v. State of Punjab], it was a case of acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act and all that was stated therein is that the right to compensation relates back to the date of acquisition and so also the enhanced compensation and not, necessarily, from the date of the judgment enhancing the amount. Interest has, therefore, to be computed on the enhanced compensation as well with effect from the date of dispossession. Likewise, in AIR 1961 S.C. 908 [Sathinder Singh v. Umrao Singh] it was held that a claim for interest is not, in reality, a claim for damage “properly or technically so called”. It is a claim based on entitlement to compensation the instant dispossession occurs. Delay in its payment is to be compensated by award of interest on the amount of compensation and an award of such interest is not precluded under the provisions of the Interest Act (32 of 1839). The decision in 1969 (3) S.C.C. 49 [R.V.M. Neeladri Rao v. The Board of Revenue] is an instance under the Madras Estates (Abolition etc.) Act, 1948. The estate was abolished with effect from 7.9.1949 and the rents were directed to be collected directly from tenants at the reduced rates. On a question as to whether a representative of a post settlement lessee, (from the Estate Holder) who was dispossessed, was entitled to payment of interest on the amounts of unpaid rents in the hands of the Government in terms of Sections 20 and 55 of that Act, it was held that on the language of Section 55 as well as the general principles of law interest was payable. The decision of AIR 1963 S.C. 1171 [The National Insurance Co, v. Life Insurance Co. v. Life Insurance Corporation] is an instance arising under a Nationalisation Act. Despite there being no specific provision for payment of interest on delayed payment of compensation under the Life Insurance Corporation Act, interest was awarded on the basic principle of compensation on dispossession;
(v) confiscation is not to be confused with compulsory acquisition. Confiscation, admittedly, is penal in nature and character. If confiscation is to be compensated, it loses its character of confiscation altogether. Again, confiscation was upheld throughout. Is the applicant claiming compensation for confiscation on the analogy of the dispossession occurring on compulsory acquisition ? Is such a claim sustainable ? The answer is obvious;
(vi) while it may be that under the Criminal Procedure Code compensation is payable, as retributive or expiatory of the offence, for an accusation without reasonable cause (S. 250 of the C.R.P.C.) or for a groundless arrest (S. 358 of the C.R.P.C.), and such fines as are otherwise levied may also be applied towards compensation for injured persons (S. 357 of the C.R.P.C.), it does not appear that on the reduction of fine imposed in respect of any offence, in appeal, the accused is to be compensated not merely by the refund of the fine to the extent reduced but by award of interest on it as well. A different, principle cannot apply in a quasi criminal proceeding where, admittedly, the levy of a fine is penal as well as optional, in character;
(e) The award of interest as part of mesne profits [AIR 1965 S.C. 1231 - Mahant Narayan Das v. Board of Trustees T.T. Devasthanam] is on account of the fact that interest is an integral part of mesne profits in terms of the definition thereof in Section 2(12) of the C.P.C. That decision has no applicability to the facts of the case.
(f) Similarly, where the levy of duty was illegal and without authority of law, it could be required to be refunded with interest in a writ proceeding or a suit impugning the levy [20 Guj. L.R. 944 at 958 - M/s. Vijay Textiles v. Union of India]. A reduction in the quantum of fine in lieu of confiscation is not in the same category as an illegal levy without authority of law ab initio, The confiscation was upheld. So also the fine in lieu thereof. Neither has been struck down as illegal or without authority of law.
(g) Reliance on the analogy of S. 214 of the Income Tax Act, which, inter alia,, provides for payment of interest on refund of excess tax collected, is of significance only to the extent it supports the Respondent’s contention to the effect there is no comparable provision in the Customs Act, 1962. The only provision that provides for payment of interest in the Customs Act is S. 61(2) - whereby, payment of interest on unpaid duty in respect of goods warehoused beyond the periods specified therein is provided. The legislature is well aware of Section 214 of the Income Tax Act but yet did not provide for interest even on duty refunded much less on refunds of fines in lieu of confiscation or penalties. Is it not a significant omission, asks the learned Departmental Representative as well he might.
(h) (i) The argument that the Petitioner is seeking execution of the order of the Tribunal, dated 30.5.1984 insofar as it directs consequential relief which, necessarily, includes payment of interest on the amount of fine required to be refunded in terms of the order, is one of despair;
(ii) an application for execution is never made to an appellate forum. On the contrary, in AIR 1961 S.C. 264 (Ambalal v. Union of India) it was held that even where the confiscation of some goods was declared to be illegal, that Hon’ble Court had no jurisdiction even to reduce the redemption amount correspondingly, however, justified such a plea may be, as it is a matter entirely within the discretion of the officer concerned in terms of Section 183 of the Sea Customs Act (comparable to Section 125 of the Customs Act, 1962), Liberty was, hence, afforded for applying to the concerned officer for a corresponding reduction of the fine. Although there were contrary observations in Boormull’s case (AIR 1974 SC. .859), on the issue of jurisdiction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, there was no difference. The aforesaid case is relevant only to the extent of rebutting the argument that this Tribunal is an appellate forum and not to be confused with an executing court;
(iii) nor is the award of interest by way of compensation, consequential relief. Under the Court Fees Act, for example, “the expression consequential relief means some relief which would follow directly from the declaration given, the valuation of which is not capable of being definitely ascertained and which is not specifically provided for anywhere in the Act and cannot be claimed-independently of the declaration as ‘substantive relief ”[AIR 1941 Lah. 97 (F.B.) - Mst. Zeb-ul-nissa v. Din Mohammad; followed in MR 1978 Delhi 114 - Purshottamdas v. Har Narain - (F.B.)]. The aforesaid dictum of the Lahore High Court was confirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in AIR 1973 S.C. 2384 [Shamsher Singh v. Rajinder Pershad] when consequential relief was defined to mean one that is said to follow directly from a declaration sought as distinguished from a substantive relief. The entitlement to compensation, otherwise than by way of restitution, whether by award of interest or in any other manner, is a substantive relief in itself and not merely consequential to any other. It does not flow directly. It has to be pleaded and proved separately. Similarly, interest in a money suit upto the date of the suit is a matter of substantive law and right and consequently Section 34 of the C.P.C. does not deal with it. Even interest pendente lite and interest subsequent to decree till realisation, comprehended by Section 34 of the C.P.C., have to be specifically prayed for in the plaint itself so that such claims can be contested, if so desired, in the written statement. Interest, before or after suit, when not so claimed and adjudged as duty, cannot, in execution of a decree, even if, may be for consequential relief, be awarded. ‘ Where a decree “is silent in respect of the payment of further interest on such principal sum from the date of the decree to the date of payment or other earlier date, the court shall be deemed to have refused such interest and a separate suit, therefore, shall not lie” [S. 34(2) of the C.P.C.];
(iv) it would, in the premises, appear that compensation being a substantive relief cannot be claimed by way of consequential relief. Nor can interest be construed to have been awarded in the shape of consequential relief when it has not been specifically awarded.
(i) Lastly, we are told that the bank which has guaranteed part of the fine had returned the amount deposited with interest and we are asked why should not interest be granted on the amount by which the fine was reduced. The answer is obvious. The guarantee is pursuant to a contract between the applicant and the bank. We do not know its terms. May be, the applicant was required to keep the amount guaranteed or a part thereof in deposit with the bank subject to payment of interest thereon. Is it a comparable case ? The fine paid earlier is not a deposit to be returned with interest in terms of a contract, failing which it could be enforced. It is unconditionally, appropriated to the State. When reduced in appeal, the question is if interest is to be awarded on the amount to the extent of such reduction. That question is not answered by the bank’s liability under a contract.
7. In the premises, the application is not only without any merits whatsoever but would appear to be frivolous. It is, accordingly, dismissed.
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