The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement of declaration for bringing in currency notes and the intent to evade the restriction under the relevant provisions of the Sea Customs Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.

ANSARI, J. :-

This petition seeks to vacate the conviction and sentence under S. 167 (81) of the Sea Customs Act, which the District Magistrate, Ernakulam, had passed against the accused, and which has with slight modification been sustained by the Sessions Judge, The petitioner and his wife were travelling from Colombo by the Italian Steamer "M.V. Australia," which they had boarded on October 4, 1958, and the tickets show the port of their disembarkation to be Genoa.

A Volks-Wagun car was also being carried in the same boat as part of the petitioner's luggage, and had been used by him while he and his wile stayed in Ceylon on their honeymoon. It had been booked through the Automobile Agency, Colombo, for disembarkation at Genoa. The ship that started from Colombo on December 04, 1958, called at the Port of Cochin on December 05, 1958 and on its arrival, the Customs Inspector, P.W. 1, who had some information, went on board, and interrogated the petitioner and his wife to ascertain whether they had any gold and currency.

The petitioner declared that he had only 2105 Dollars, 250 Rupees, and Travelling Cheques worth 60 Dollars. The cabin the couple occupied, the petitioner's person as well as his wife's were searched, but nothing beyond the currency notes already known were found. The Customs Inspector wanted to thoroughly search the car, and as the Steamer was to leave Cochin Port at 9-45 on December 05, 1958, he requested the Captain to disembark the petitioner and to offload his car.

The Customs Inspector was evidently anxious to have the petitioner and his wife on land while the car was being searched. Therefore the petitioner was disembarked, but the wife, because of her delicate health and on medical advice was allowed to proceed. Before disembarkation, P.W. 4, a Preventive Officer, gave the petitioner who signed, Ext. P5. This is a printed declaration form for currency and shows only 1605 Dollars and 250 Rupees to be with the petitioner. The car was again searched by P.W. 5, a mechanic, and a secret receptacle was found in the central channel of the chassis, in which channel, the Indian currency as well as the American currency worth about Rs. 5,60,000 were found concealed.

Thereafter the petitioner was charge-sheeted under S. 23(1)(a) read with S. 8 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act as well as the Notification thereunder, and under S. 167(81) of the Sea Customs Act. The District Magistrate, before whom the petitioner was proceeded against, convicted and sentenced him to six months under S. 167(81) besides ordering confiscation of the currency and the car. The Sessions Judge has sustained the conviction, but has modified the sentence of six months to four months.

2. The petitioner's learned Advocate has before us raised the following pleas for the conviction and sentence being reversed :

(i) Under International Law, a merchant ship enjoys the right of innocent passage through territorial waters, therefore, laws of the country, in whose territorial waters the right was being enjoyed, would be excluded from the ship, with the result that acts on board the ship would not contravene the territorial laws, and the ship's entrance into a harbour while continuing the voyage would also be covered by the right of innocent passage.

(ii) Where parts of an earlier Act are brought by reference Into a subsequent enactment, they thereby become incorporated into the latter with the result that still later amendments of the earlier Act would not extend to the subsequent enactment, so that S. 167(81) that had been added by Act XXI of 1955 to the Sea Customs Act would not be part of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, as S. 23A of the latter, which had incorporated the earlier Act into the latter, was added by the amending Act VIII of 1950.

(iii) The bare fact of the Indian Currency having been found concealed in a secreted receptacle of the car owned by the petitioner, which he had not declared, would be inadequate to convict and sen