Mukesh Miah And Ors. vs State Of Tripura And Ors.

[1] Three petitioners, claiming to be the owners of a total of 54 animals of cow progeny, have filed this petition seeking compensation of Rs.6,23,200/- from the respondents.

[2] Brief facts are as under :

According to the petitioners, they have purchased the said cattle from the open market under cash memos on 17th February, 2017. Petitioner No.1 owned 16 of these cows, petitioner No.2 was owner of 11 and the petitioner No.3 was owner of 28 cows. These cows were being transported in 2 transport vehicles on 19th April, 2017 when these vehicles were intercepted by the police authorities and under the suspicion that the cattle were being smuggled across the international border, the vehicles and the cattle were handed over to the customs authorities. The customs authorities conducted an auction sale of these cattle on 19th April, 2017 itself on the ground that being livestock, it was not possible for the customs authorities to look after them.

[3] According to the petitioners, they had approached the police authorities with copies of the cash memos to establish their ownership of the cattle and then orally requested for release of the cattle. The police authorities had not accepted their request. Hence this petition.

[4] The custom authorities have filed their reply. The stand taken by them is that the petitioners never come forward claiming the ownership of the cattle. Show cause notices were issued to the drivers and owners of the vehicles. The drivers and owners appeared during personal hearing before the adjudicating authority but did not claim ownership of the cattle. Common show cause notice issued to drivers and owners was adjudicated by the competent authority who confiscated the seized articles namely, the cattle as well as the vehicles. He absolutely confiscated the cattle, also confiscated the vehicles but offered to release the vehicles on payment of redemption fine of Rs.75,000/-. He also imposed fines on the noticees.

[5] I have perused the show cause notice dated 9th October 2017, issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs to the drivers of the vehicles and the owners of these vehicles in which the cattle were being transported. I have also perused the order of adjudication passed by the Assistant Commissioner which records that none of the noticees had filed reply to the show cause notice but some of them had appeared during personal hearing. The owner had claimed total ignorance about the cattle being transported in the vehicles. The drivers had also not disclosed about the ownership of the cattle belonging to the petitioners.

[6] The petitioners have not produced any document suggesting that they approached in writing either the police authorities or customs authorities claiming ownership of the cattle and requesting release thereof. The petitioners had also not approached the Assistant Commissioner when he was deciding the show cause notice proceedings. In a writ petition copies of some cash memos purportedly showing purchase of the cattle by the petitioners, would not be sufficient to ignore the order of adjudication which was preceded by a show cause notice issued by the Assistant Commissioner.

In the result, no relief can be granted to the petitioners. Petition is dismissed. Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of.