Smuggled goods are property fraudulently obtained within the meaning of section 124 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951.

KAMAT .J.- The first essential ingredient of the offence under section 124 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951, is that the accused must have been found in posses4ion, or he must have conveyed in any manner or offered for sale or pawn some property. The second essential ingredient of this offence is that there must be reason to believe that the said property is stolen or fraudulently obtained. The third essential ingredient of this offence is that the accused must have failed to account for his possession of that property. In the present case, the appellant accused Champalal wa3 admittedly found to be in possession of 20 new Henry Sandoz wrist watches in his pant pockets. The material question, therefore, for consideration in this appeal is whether there is reason to bel1eve that those new Henry Sandoz wrist-watches found in the possession of the appellant-accused were stolen property or property fraudulently obtained and, if so, whether the appellant-accused has failed to account for his possession of those wrist-watches.

2. The expression “reason to believe" is defined in section 26 of the Indian Penal Code, and the definition reads thus:

"A person is said to have reason to believe a thing, if he has sufficient cause to believe that thing but not otherwise."

Reasonable belief is a belief begotten by attendant circumstances fairly creating hand honestly entertained. The requirement of reasonable belief is an objective requirement, and a reasonable man or the Court must feel convinced in his or its mind about it.

3. The term "fraudulently" is defined in section 25.of the Indian Penal Code and the definition reads thus:

"A person is said to do a thing fraudulently if he does that thing with intent to defraud but not otherwise."

It is, therefore, clear that, before the appellant-accused is called upon to account for his possession of those wrist-watches it is incumbent upon the prosecution to show and satisfy the Court objectively that, from the facts and circumstances of the case, there is reason to believe that the wrist-watches found in the possession of the appellant-accused were either stolen or fraudulently obtained.

4. In the present case, the appellant-accused is not a dealer in wristwatches, nor does he claim to be one. Even then he was found to be in possession of 20 new Henry Sandoz wrist-watches in the pockets of his pant. Secondly, all the 20 wrist-watches were brand new wrist-watches and they were wrapped in two paper packets. Thirdly, the movements of the appellant accused Champalal when he was standing on the foot-path at the corner of Yusuf Meherally Road were so very suspicious that they attracted the attention of Police Constable Vithal Kamble who had gone to Tambakata for making some other inquiry. Lastly, the appellant-accused could not give any satisfactory explanation to Police Constable Vithal Kamble as to why he happened to be there at that time. There is a ban on import of foreign watches without payment of the necessary duty chargeable on such articles. It is nowhere suggested that the wrist-watches in question were imported into India on payment of the necessary duty chargeable on them. The cumulative effect of all these circumstances which have been established on record would be that a prudent mall would feel convinced. In his mind that those wristwatches were smuggled wrist-watches. Even the appellant accused himself felt so, because he has stated in his written statement:

"I feel that I am a victim of person who has passed on to me watches which were not legally imported into India."

Where, therefore, the prosecution is able to show that the goods were smuggled and that the accused had them in his conscious possession for use or sale, It would as a rule follow, in the absence of any other circumstance, that he intended to defraud the revenue or evade the restrictions imposed on the Import of the goods which were recovered from his pcsse5sion. The circumstances established by the prosecution in