Cap. 382 Art. 28Request for the goods to be given back.

(1) (a) The goods seized in accordance with this Act shall be deemed to be forfeited and the Commissioner may ipso jure dispose of them according to law, unless the person from whom the goods have been seized, or the owner, or any person authorised by him within thirty (30) days from the date of the seizure note, gives a notice in writing to the Commissioner, requesting that the seized goods are returned to him or indicating that he intends to demand that they are returned, and within thirty (30) days from such notice, initiates the necessary proceedings before the Administrative

Review Tribunal by means of an application against the Commissioner.

(b) The Commissioner shall have thirty (30) days from the notification to reply to the application before the Administrative Review Tribunal. The Tribunal shall hear the application expeditiously.

(c) In default of such contestation in terms of paragraph (a), the claim on the seized object shall be deemed to be abandoned:

Provided that where a seizure is made in accordance with this Act and no contestation has been made by the person from whom the goods have been seized, or by the owner, or any person authorised by him for the purposes of this article, in case of an acquittal by the competent Court as provided for in article 36, which has become a the contestation process as res judicata, provided for in paragraph (a) may be availed of within thirty (30) days from the date of the judgement becoming a res judicata. In default of such contestation, the claim on this good shall be deemed to be abandoned:

Provided further that the preceding proviso shall not apply to the confiscation of any good which is illegal or prohibited by virtue of any law and to the confiscation of any restricted good unless such restrictions have been observed.

(2) When the object seized by virtue of this Act is a vessel or is of a perishable nature or is, in the opinion of the Commissioner, likely to suffer substantial loss of value by the lapse of time, or consists of a living creature, the same object may, by order of the Commissioner, be sold, and the proceeds thereof be retained to abide the results of any claim that may be legally made in respect thereof and for the purpose of any proceedings taken under this Act in respect of the seized goods, such proceeds shall represent and substitute the said seized goods.

(3) When a seizure made in accordance with this Act is contested in accordance with sub-article (1), the Commissioner may, at anytime, if he sees fit and notwithstanding the pendency of the proceedings wherein the seizure is contested, deliver any goods seized to any claimant upon his paying to the Commissioner such sum as the Commissioner thinks proper and not exceeding that which in the opinion of the Commissioner represents the value of the goods, including any duty, levy or tax chargeable thereon and which have not been paid, or upon giving to the Commissioner such security acceptable to the said Commissioner for the payment of such sum. Such sum or security, as the case may be, shall be retained to abide the result of any claim that may be legally made in respect thereof and shall, for the purpose of any proceedings taken under this Act in respect of the seized goods, represent and substitute the said seized goods.