Central Excise Law

Search, Seizure and arrest.- Powers, Provisions & Procedure-:

1.Any Central Excise Officer can stop and inspect goods carried by any person or conveyance and seize the goods if they are contraband [Rule 23] . A new Section 12F in the Finance Act, 2011 empowers the Joint Commissioner or the Additional Commissioner to himself search or authorize a Central Excise Officer to carry out the search of any premises. The proposed Section 13A provides that bail to the arrested person (except minor, inform and woman) may be granted by a court or Magistrate only after hearing the public prosecution.

2.When the Central Excise Officer has a reason to believe that duty has not been paid on any excisable goods and they have been removed with intent to evade duty, he may detain or seize such goods. Sealing of godown and removing books of accounts amounts to seizure- Vilayat Hussain v.U.O.I.1997 (95)E.L.T. 19 (M.P.). Detention of his goods against the wishes of a person also amounts to seizure- Rajesh Arora v. Collector-1998 (101) E.L.T. 246 (Del). But simple non-clearance of the goods from the Port Premises by customs because of some objection does not amount to seizure- DCP Associates Pvt. Ltd v. Commissioner-1998 (103) E.L.T. 210 (Mad). [Sections 105(Del) and 110 of Customs Act, 1962 as made applicable to Central Excise Rule 24].

3.A Gazetted Officer of Central Excise (Superintendent and above) has also the power to summon any person for giving evidence or producing documents necessary for any inquiry which the summoning officer may be making for the purposes of the Act (Section 14). Such officer not being a police officer and the person summoned not being an accused person at that stage, constitutional protection against testimonial compulsion is not available to persons summoned and the inquiry is not violative of Articles 20(3), 21 and 22 of the Constitution. But once a person becomes an ‘accused’, guarantee against testimonial compulsion is available to him not only for giving evidence in Court but also out of Court, suh as in response to summons issued by a Gazetted Officer of Customs or Central Excise. Nevertheless, he must attend in response to summons and answer such question as do not incriminate him.