PADMANABHAN, J.

This writ petition has been field for the issue of a writ of mandamus directing the second and third respondents, viz., the Asst. Director of Inspection (Intelligence), I.T. Dept. and the ITO, Coimbatore, respectively, to release the currency notes of Rs. 50, 000 seized from the petitioner, Mangilal Jain. The facts of the case may be stated as follows : On March 10, 1972, the officers of the customs department intercepted one Samu Jaffar, and recovered from him a paper packet containing currency notes to the tune of Rs. 50, 000. It was alleged that the paper packet was handed over to the said Samu Jaffar by the petitioner, Mangilal Jain, in the presence of one Laxmichand Jain. The customs authorities opened the packet in the presence of the said Samu Jaffar, Laxmichand Jain and the petitioner and two independent witnesses. It was suspected that the sum of Rs. 50, 000 which was said to have been handed over by the petitioner of Samu Jaffar was the sale proceeds of smuggled goods. Though the petitioner in the first instance contended that the money did not belong to him but to his uncle, Goverchand, later he claimed that he borrowed the money from M/s. Kewal Agencies for his father's business in Bombay, that while on his way to purchase a draft in the State Bank of India, Purasawalkam, he had stopped to talk to Samu Jaffar, a casual acquaintance of him, and it was at that time the customs officers seized the money from him. The seizure of the money was followed by searches of the premises of different persons by the customs authorities. In the course of the search 1, 125 gold bars of 10 tolas each with foreign markings and valued at Rs. 11, 06, 467.12 were also seized by the customs authorities. Show-cause notices were issued to several persons and adjudication proceedings were held by the first respondent. The first respondent passed an order of adjudication on March 1. 1973. So far as the petitioner was concerned, the leased to the petitioner. We are not concerned with the order of adjudication in so far as it related to the other persons and to the confiscation of the gold bars seized.Before the money could be actually returned to the petitioner, the incident attracted the notice of the intelligence wing of the I.T. Dept. An investigation by the intelligence wing revealed that one Bakshiram was involved in smuggling activities and that the sum of Rs. 50, 000, which was seized by the customs authorities from the custody of Samu Jaffar, really belonged to Bakshiram and constituted undisclosed income in his hands. Accordingly, the Commission of Income-tax, Madras-2, issued a warrant, under s. 132 (1) of the I. T. Act, 1961, and on the basis of the said warrant, the Asst. Director of Inspection (Intelligence) took charge of the money from the customs Dept. Thereafter, the ITO passed an order under s. 132 (5) of the I. T. Act holding that the sum of Rs. 50, 000 was undisclosed income in the hands of Bakshiram. Accordingly, a sum of Rs. 21, 214 was adjusted against the tax on the undisclosed income and arrears of income-tax of Bakshiram and the balance was adjusted later on against the other tax arrears of Bakshiram.

Unaware of the Taking over of the sum of Rs. 50, 000 from the customs authorities by the I.T. Dept., the petitioner filed W. P. No. 2328 of 1976 in this court for the issue of a writ of mandamus directing the customs dept. to release the sum of Rs. 50, 000. The first respondent herein filed a counter affidavit in the said writ petition to the effect that the money had been seized by the second respondent herein as early as March 30, 1974. Consequently, W. P. No. 2328 of 1976 was dismissed on 22nd March, 1977. In the circumstances, the petitioner has filed this writ petition to compel respondent Nos. 2 and 3 to release the sum of Rs. 50, 000 to the petitioner.

Mrs. Ramani Natarajan contended, on behalf of the petitioner, that it had been found in the order of adjudication dated March 1, 1973, pa