| 15. Giving of opportunity to the owner of seized packages.- (1) No order adjudging confiscation or directing payment of costs or imposing penalty shall be unless the owner of the package of cigarettes has been given a notice in writing informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate such package, and giving him a reasonable opportunity of making a representation in writing within such reasonable time as may be specified in the notice against the confiscation or imposition of penalty mentioned therein, and, if he so desires, of being heard in the matter: Provided that, where no such notice is given within a period of ninety days from the date of the seizure of the package of cigarettes, such package shall be returned, after the expiry of that period, to the person from whose possession it was seized. (2) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (1), the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), shall, as far as apply to every proceeding referred to in sub-section (1). |
