B. P. JEEVAN REDDY, J.

( 1 ) THIS writ petition is directed against the order of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, subsequently confirming the adjudication order passed by the Collector, Customs and Central Excise, Hyderabad. The Collector by his order dated 25-5-1977 confiscated the goods seized from the petitioners under Section 111 (d) and Section 111 (p) of the Customs Act, 1962 and also imposed a penalty of Rs. 25,000 under Section 112 of the Act. On appeal the Board confirmed the order of the Collector, except in the matter of penalty. It reduced the penalty to Rs. 5,000.

( 2 ) IN the writ petition Sri. V. R. Reddy, the learned counsel for the petitioners, raised four contentions viz. (i) that the search which led to the seizure and ultimately to the adjudication and confiscation was conducted by a person not competent in law to do so and, therefore, all subsequent steps, viz. , the seizure, adjudication and confiscation are void; (ii) that the person conducting the search had not formed a reasonable belief as contemplated by Section 105 of the Act and this reason too, the search is illegal; (iii) in this case, the goods seized are of three categories, viz goods notifie

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