Judgement

B. P. SINHA, J. : Petition Nos. 65 of 1958, under Art. 32 of the Constitution, on behalf of one Thomas Dana, and Criminal Appeal No. l12 of 1958, by special leave to appeal granted to one Leo Roy Frey (appellant), raise substantially the same question of some constitutional importance, and have, therefore, been heard together, and will be covered by this judgment. The main question for determination in these two cases, is whether there has been an infringement of the constitutional protection granted under Art. 20 (2) of the Constitution. For the sake of brevity and convenience, we shall refer to Thomas Dana as the first petitioner, and Leo Roy Frey, as the second petitioner, in the course of this judgment.

2. The relevant facts are these : The first petitioner is a Cuban national. He came to India on a special Cuban passport No. 11822, dated 16th November 1954 issued by the Government of the Republic of Cuba. The second petitioner is a citizen of the United States of America, and holds a U. S. A. passport No. 45252, dated 1st July 1955. In May 1957, both the petitioners, were in Paris. There, the second petitioner purchased a motor car from an officer of the American Embassy. He is said to have sold that car to the first petitioner on 14th May1957, and the same month, it was registered in the first petitioner s name. The two petitioners sailed by the same steamer at the end of May. The car was also shipped by the same steamer. They reached Karachi on 11th June 1957, and from there, flew to Bombay. From 11th to 19th June 1957 they stayed together in Hotel Ambassador in Bombay. The car was delivered to the first petitioner in Bombay on June 13th and on June 19th both of them flew from Bombay to Delhi. In Delhi, also, they stayed together at Hotel Janpath: The first petitioner received the car at Delhi by rail on June 22nd and the same night, the two petitioners left by the said car for Amritsar, where they reached after midnight, and stayed in Mrs. Bhandari s Lodge. On the morning of June 23rd; they reached Attari Road Land Customs Station by the same car (No. CD 75 TT 6587). On arrival at Attari the petitioners presented themselves for completing customs formalities for crossing over to Pakistan. The Customs officers at Attar Road Land Customs Station, handed over to them the Baggage Declaration forms, to declare the articles that they had in their possession, including any goods, which were subject to the Export Trade Control and/or Foreign Exchange Restrictions, and/or were dutiable. Both the petitioners completed the forms aforesaid, and handed those completed statements over to the Customs officers. The first petitioner declared the under-noted articles :-

Indian currency Rs. 40

Pakistan currency Rs. 50

U. S. Dollars $. 30.00

Gold ring 1 (valued at Rs. 100)

Personal effects Valued at $ 100 00

Car Valued at Rs. 15,000

On suspicion, the Customs officers searched his baggage which was being carried in the car aforesaid. His person was also searched and as a result of the search, the under-noted articles which had not been declared by him, were recovered --

Indian currency Rs. 900

Pakistan currency Rs. 250

U. S. Dollars $. 1.00

Hong Kong Dollars $. 1.00

Thailand currency 78

Pocket radio 1

Time-piece 1

The second petitioner, in his statement, had declared the following articles :-

Indian currency Rs. 40

U. S. Dollars $. 500.00

U. S. Coins $. 1.23

Belgian coins BF 26.00

French coins BF 205.00

Italian coins L. 400.00

Wrist watch 1

Personal effects Rs. 1,00,000

On suspicion, the Customs staff searched the person of the second petitioner also. They recovered from him one pistol of 22 bore with 48 live cartridges of the same bore. As he could not produce a valid licence under the Indian law, the pistol and the cartridges were handed over to the police for taking appropriate action under the Indian Arms Act. The car was thoroughly searched, and as a result of the intensive search and minute examination on 30th June 1957, a secre