Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : This is an appeal on a certificate granted by the Calcutta High Court. The brief facts necessary for present purposes are these. The respondent had imported 2,000 drums of mineral oil. Out of this quantity, the appellant, the Collector of Customs, Calcutta, confiscated 50 drums by order dated September 20, 195O. He also imposed a personal penalty of Rs. 61,0001- on the respondent under the Sea Customs Act, No. 8 of 1878 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The respondent appealed to the Central Board of Revenue under S. 188 of the Act, and this appeal was dismissed in April, 1952. Thereupon the respondent filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the High Court. We are in the present appeal not concerned with the merits of the case put forward by the respondent, for the mater has not yet been heard on the merits. When the petition came up before a learned Single Judge a question was raised as to the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear the petition in view of the decision of this Court in Election Commission India v. Venkata Rao Subba Rao, 1953 SCR 1144: As the learned Single Judge considered the point important, he referred the mater to a larg