This is a petition by a citizen of Singapore praying to direct the respondent to return the pasport of the petitioner to enable him to go over to Singapore and come back to India within such time this Court may fix, subject to such terms and conditions which this court may deem fit and proper.

2.The case of the petitioner is that his passport was seized by the customs authorities on 24-1-1985 along with other articles brought by him, that the passport was not entered in the mahazar of seizure, that the petitioner is compelled by the requirement to undergo military training of his country to go back immediately, that he is possessing property worth Rs. 5 lakhs in Pudukkottai in his own name, that he is assessed to Wealth Tax in India and the assessment in the Wealth Tax shows the value of the property at Rs. 4.5 lakhs and that he has number of family links in India. He contends that the Assistant Collector of Central Excise, Madras, has no power to seize his passport and such seizure is violative of his fundamental right to travel.

3.The respondent states that the petitioner is involved in smuggling of gold valued at Rs. 3 lakhs and of which the petitioner kept concealed o