SUPERINTENDENT AND LEGAL REMEMBRANCER OF LEGAL AFFAIRS TO THE GOVT. OF WEST BENGAL versus ABANI MAITY

Citation: [1979] 3 S.C.R. 472 · Decided: 06-03-1979 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: R.S. SARKARIA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

472 
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SUPERINTENDENT AND LEGAL REMEMBRANCER OF 
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LEGAL AFFAIRS TO THE GOVT. OF WEST BENGAL 
v. 
ABANI MAITY 
March 6, 1979 
(R. S. SARKARIA, P. S. KA!LASAM AND 0. CHINNAPPA REDDY, JJ.J 
Bengal Excise Act, 1909-Ss. 63 and 64-Seope of. 
Interpretation of Statutres-"Shall be liable to confiscation" and "may ordt~r 
confiscation"-Whether have a con1pulsive force-"Liable"-Meaning of. 
Section 63(1) of the Bengal Excise Act, 1909 provides that whenever on 
offence punishable under the Act had been committed, the intoxicant material 
and the means Gy which such offence had been committed "shall be //able to coff. 
fiscation'. 
Section 64( 1) provides that when the Magistrate decides that an.r-
thing is liable to confiscation under s. 63 he may either order confiscation or 
give the owner an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as he thinks 
fit. 
The respondent was found carrying contraband ganja in a car of which be 
was the owner. 
The Magistrate passing the order of conviction and sentence 
against him, did not pass orders for the disposal of the contraband goods 
a-~d 
confiscation of the car which was seized. 
On the question whether the words "liable to" used in the context of "'oon-
fiscation" in s. 63(1) convey an absolute imperative or merely loove it to the 
discretion of the Magistrate to confiscate or not to confiscate the 
vehicle by 
means of which such offence had been committed. 
Allowing the appeal, 
HELD : 1. It is imperative for the Magistrate to pass, at the conclusion of 
the trial, in addition to the conviction and sentence, an order of confiscation of 
the car by means of which the offence was committed. [481 A] 
2. The expressions "shall be Iirtble to confiscation" and "1nay" in the 
sec-
tions were intended to have a con1pulsive force. 
As soon as the conditions of 
s. 63, namely, that the conveyance had been used for carrying the contrabi:1nd 
intoxicant and that the owner of that conveyance was i1nplicated in the com-
missioa of the offences arc established the word "may" in s. 64(1) acquires. th~ 
force of "must". 
The discretion of the ~Iagistrate is restricted to a 
choice 
between the two alternatives mentioned in s. 64(1) namely, confiscation of the 
conveyance. or imposition of fine in Heu thereof. [478 F; 480 G-H] 
3. Ordinarily the word ~·liable" has been held as conveying not an absolute 
obligation or penalty but as merely importing a possibility of attracting such 
obligation or penalty even where it is used with the words "shaII be." But a 
statute is not to be interpreted merely from the lexicographer's angle. 
Exposi~ 
tion ex visceribus actus is a long recognised n1le of construction. Words in 
a statute often take their meaning from the context of the statute a5 a whole; 
they are not to be construed in isolation. The purpose of the Excise Act is 
not merely to raise revenue but also to stop free use of intoxicants and illegal 
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GOVT. OF WEST BENGAL v. ABANI MAITY (Sarkaria, !.) 
473 
trade in them which has a deleterious effect on public health and morals. Thllfl 
A 
considered both the expressions are intended to have a compulsive force. [477 
B-HJ 
lndo-China Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. v. lasiit Singh, Addi. Collector of 
Customs & Ors., [1964] 6 SCR 594; held in applicable. 
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Crimind Appeal No, 
57 
of 1972. 
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 
5-3-1971 of the, Calcutta High Court in Cr!. Revision No. 35/71. 
P. K. Chatterjee and G. S. Chatterjee for the Appellant. 
D. N. Mukherjee for the Respondent 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
SARKAR!A, J. This appeal by special leave is 
directed against a 
judgment, dated March 5, 1971, of the High Court of Calcutta. The 
facts are as follows : 
Abani Maity, respondent herein, and three other persons 
were 
tried by the Magistmte, First Class, Alipore, District 
24-Parganas, 
in respect of a charge under Section 46(a) of the Bengal Excise Act, 
1909 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). 
On the night of July 29, 
1963, at about 7.30 p.m., the Excise 
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staff intercepted Motor Car No. WBD 8169 at village Rajpur, Police 
Station Sonarpur. The car was searched and thereupon 199 kgs. 700 
E 
grams contraband Ganja was recovered from inside the car. The 
respondent, Abani Maity, who was the registered owner of the car, 
and held a driving licence was himself on the steering wheel. Abani 
Maity and th
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